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A new Jewish Onliner investigation has documented extensive connections between Sovereign Media, a Nairobi-based socialist news outlet, and Iran’s state-media apparatus. They run through the founder’s career at Press TV, journalists associated with both organizations, articles republished directly from Iranian state broadcasting, and a British corporate structure dedicated to building an international anti-imperialist media coalition while obfuscating the outlet’s Iranian ties.
The full report can be accessed at this link. Below is an abridged version.
Key Findings
Iranian state-media connections: Sovereign Media founder Ahmed Kaballo spent years at Iran’s Press TV in London, eventually joining the leadership of its UK office. At least five other Sovereign-associated journalists have documented professional links to Press TV or its sister broadcaster HispanTV.
Press TV propaganda republished: Sovereign published at least three articles credited to Press TV, including material defending Tehran’s account of its crackdown on anti-regime unrest and its military confrontation with the United States. The outlet also publishes content denying the atrocities of October 7th.
British corporate infrastructure: Kaballo controls a UK-registered company called “Sovereignty Media Group” whose founding documents propose building the “largest global coalition of anti-imperialist media” and institutions serving socialist political movements.
Funding network: Sovereign acknowledges funding from the Babochki Collective, co-founded by James “Fergie” Chambers, who was arrested in Spain amid U.S. allegations involving money laundering and material support for Hamas.
The Founder: Ties to Sanctioned Iranian & Russian Media
Founder Ahmed Kaballo worked at Press TV in London from 2016 to 2022, according to his biography published by Iran’s Sobh International Media Festival. Kaballo has said he rose through the broadcaster’s ranks to become part of its UK leadership. After establishing African Stream, he received a special award from the IRIB-organized Sobh festival in May 2024. Later that year, the U.S. State Department determined that African Stream was “secretly run by RT,” Russia’s state broadcaster.
Press TV is the English-language arm of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB). The U.S. Treasury sanctioned Press TV in September 2023, stating that it aired forced confessions and had been used by Iranian intelligence services to recruit sensitive assets, including Americans. Britain revoked the broadcaster’s UK license in 2012 after determining that editorial control rested in Tehran.
Press TV & Sovereign Media’s Shared Journalists
Sovereign’s ties to Iranian broadcasting extend beyond its founder. Press TV identified Shabbir Rizvi as a Sovereign Media journalist. In a March 2026 essay, Rizvi called for “total uncritical solidarity with the Islamic Republic.” Sovereign has also republished his articles originally credited to Press TV.
An October 2025 Sovereign dispatch identified Naqaa Hamed as its reporter. Press TV and the Committee to Protect Journalists have identified her as a Press TV West Bank correspondent. In Lebanon, Sovereign called Hadi Hoteit its journalist; the International Federation of Journalists identified him as a Press TV correspondent.
Camila Escalante’s biography lists reporting for both Sovereign and Press TV, where she began working in Latin America in 2021. Alejandro Kirk appears on Sovereign through a Press TV republication and was identified by Sovereign as a senior correspondent for HispanTV, IRIB’s Spanish-language broadcaster.
Iranian Content Under the Sovereign Banner
Jewish Onliner identified three articles on Sovereign’s website expressly credited to Press TV. In January 2026, Sovereign republished Rizvi’s depiction of anti-regime unrest in Iran as “foreign-backed deadly riots,” disputing reporting about civilian deaths and abuses by Iranian security forces. Another republication in March accused American media of hiding U.S. military failures while depicting Tehran as negotiating from a position of strength. A November 2025 article on Venezuela carried Kirk’s Press TV credit.
The contrast with Sovereign’s editorial rules is striking. Its submission guidelines reject material promoting “imperialist regime-change narratives” and restrict reliance on sources it classifies as Western state-affiliated. Yet commentary from the Islamic Republic’s sanctioned state broadcaster appears under Sovereign’s own banner.
Sovereign’s editorial choices extend to highly skewed coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. An August 2026 article republished from Venezuelanalysis dismissed accounts of mass rape during the Hamas-led October 7 attacks as a “debunked mass rape hoax” and characterized statements about the rape and the burning of Israeli families as a “blood libel.”
A British Company and a Political Mission
Sovereign calls itself Nairobi-based, but Kaballo has an extensive British corporate footprint. Companies House records identify him as the sole director and sole active person with significant control of Sovereignty Media Group, incorporated in May 2025.
Its founding documents call for an international platform, the “largest global coalition of anti-imperialist media,” and media institutions suited to “the aims of the socialist struggle.” The documents also envision equipping political movements with tools to pursue imperialism’s “final defeat.”
Similarly, Sovereign Media’s website describes its mission as building an “infrastructure of resistance,” providing training, social-media expertise and “strategic messaging kits” to coalition partners. The project explicitly states its aim to shape political narratives through a coordinated international network of outlets.
Sovereign Media’s Stripe donation page displays the name “Sovereign Media Group,” nearly identical to Kaballo’s UK-registered “Sovereignty Media Group.”
Sovereign has publicly acknowledged funding from the Babochki Collective. Its co-founder, James “Fergie” Chambers, was arrested in Spain in July 2026 in a U.S. extradition case involving allegations of money laundering and material support for Hamas. Chambers contests those allegations. Sovereign subsequently published an article opposing his extradition, ending with “Free Fergie Chambers.” A People’s Congress delegate roster also listed Kaballo under Sovereign Media and Rizvi under the Babochki Collective.
UANI Calls for Investigation Into State-Backed Influence
Responding to Jewish Onliner’s findings, Jason Brodsky, policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran, called for scrutiny of Iranian state-media activity in Britain and the use of UK corporate registrations for foreign influence operations.
“The UK has long had a permissive environment for Iranian regime media outlets. This is despite IRIB and PressTV executives being under UK sanctions,” Brodsky said. “IRIB and PressTV are not purely media organizations. They have connections to the Iranian security services. IRIB has long endeavored to expand its geographic reach. Africa is one such priority region for the Iranian regime.”
“There should be an investigation as to whether registration of such media companies in the UK is being used to advance state-backed influence operations, especially as the UK counters such state-backed threats on British soil,” he added.
An Iranian Psyop in the Heart of Britain
What emerges is a transnational media project hostile to Western influence and deeply intertwined with Iran’s state-media ecosystem. Its founder spent years inside Press TV’s London operation, multiple associated journalists have worked for Iranian broadcasters, its website redistributes Press TV articles, and its publishing choices advance narratives defending Tehran and its allies.
Those ties sit alongside British corporate documents explicitly dedicated to building a global anti-imperialist media coalition and creating institutions serving socialist political movements — all while masking its Iranian ties.
Jewish Onliner reached out to Sovereign Media for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
Jewish Onliner reached out to UK Companies House for comment. A representative referred Jewish Onliner to generic pages about sanctions on the Companies House site.