RAD Media World Faces UK Probe for Alleged Skilled Worker Visa Exploitation

(LONDON, UK) — RAD Media World, a London-based media firm linked to Tehran-backed outlets Press TV and HispanTV, sponsored UK work visas with Home Office approval and now faces scrutiny over whether it used the Skilled Worker visa route to bring people into Britain under media or cultural cover.

The company, registered in northwest London, is accused of exploiting a system reserved for employers that the Home Office has approved to hire overseas workers. British government sources described the number of people involved as limited.

Evidence related to the firm has reached London’s counterterrorism police unit and the UK Home Office for further examination. Pressure has also been building on the Home Office to revoke RAD Media World’s sponsor licence and investigate visa recipients linked to the company.

Corporate filings identify Seyed Mehdi Mirtaleb as the sole current director of RAD Media World. Hamid Kheiraldin previously held a leadership role.

The accusations center on a visa route that gives licensed employers a formal role in bringing foreign workers to the UK. Under current rules, a Skilled Worker visa can last up to five years and can allow the visa holder to bring family members.

Only employers approved by the Home Office can sponsor workers under that route. That requirement places the government’s licensing system at the center of the case, because RAD Media World could not have sponsored visas without Home Office approval.

Security experts warned that a sponsorship route designed for lawful employment could be used by Iranian intelligence-linked operatives working under the cover of media or cultural activity. Those concerns have sharpened attention on the company’s reported ties to Iranian state-affiliated broadcasters.

Press TV and HispanTV are the outlets linked to the firm in the material now under examination. The case has drawn attention because the business at the center of it is not an ordinary trading company but a media operation with reported links to Tehran-backed broadcasting.

RAD Media World allegedly received a formal government warning last month about possible legal action under the UK National Security Act. No public revocation of its sponsor status has been stated, and no criminal charge appears in the material at issue.

That leaves the company in a narrow but serious position. Its sponsorship status is under scrutiny, its role in bringing workers into the country is being examined, and the agencies reviewing the evidence include both the Home Office and London’s counterterrorism police unit.

The timing is also clear. On May 16, 2026, reporting brought public attention to the fact that RAD Media World had successfully sponsored a number of work visas with Home Office approval. The warning about possible action under the National Security Act came last month, relative to that date.

British government sources have not publicly described a large operation. They said the number of people involved was limited, a point that narrows the immediate scale but does not remove the security questions raised by the sponsorship itself.

In the UK system, sponsor approval is not incidental. A company that wants to bring in overseas staff under the Skilled Worker visa route must hold Home Office approval, and a worker’s status under that route depends on that sponsorship framework. The permission can run for up to five years, and the ability to bring dependants means any review of a sponsor can carry consequences beyond the sponsored employee.

That family element has become part of the scrutiny around RAD Media World because the visa route is broader than a single work permission. A sponsored role can open a legal path for relatives to accompany the holder, which is why questions about who was sponsored and for what purpose tend to draw close official attention when a licensed employer comes under examination.

Mirtaleb’s position as sole current director gives him direct importance in any review of the company’s conduct. Kheiraldin’s earlier leadership role also places him within the firm’s recent corporate history, though the material at issue stops short of alleging a criminal offense by either man.

The involvement of London’s counterterrorism police unit signals that officials are treating the matter as more than an administrative dispute over sponsor compliance. The Home Office’s role points to a parallel question: whether the department that approves sponsors should now revoke the licence attached to RAD Media World.

That licence question sits at the heart of the case because the visa route cannot operate without it. If the Home Office withdraws approval, the company would lose the authority that allowed it to sponsor workers in the first place.

The concerns raised by security experts focus on concealment rather than volume. A limited number of visa grants would still attract scrutiny if officials believed the sponsorship route had been used to place operatives in Britain under a legitimate-seeming media or cultural banner.

RAD Media World’s reported links to Press TV and HispanTV have intensified those concerns. Both outlets are described in the material under review as Iranian state-affiliated, and that affiliation is central to why the firm’s use of the visa system has become a national security issue rather than a routine immigration matter.

No public action has yet been stated against the company beyond the alleged warning and the current examination of evidence. The record described so far shows scrutiny, not a final decision: no public revocation, no announced charge, and no stated end point for the Home Office or police review.

What is already established is narrower and concrete. RAD Media World, a company registered in northwest London, sponsored work visas with Home Office approval; its sole current director is Seyed Mehdi Mirtaleb; Hamid Kheiraldin previously held a leadership role; the firm is linked to Press TV and HispanTV; and officials are examining whether the Skilled Worker visa route was used in a way that should have triggered intervention earlier.