An individual contributing to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK holds a prominent position at an enterprise located in Dubai, which, prior to 2016, maintained commercial connections with an Iranian conglomerate subsequently placed under sanctions, possessing extensive ties to the government of the Islamic republic.
Based on records reviewed by the FT, John Simpson, who serves as both a church warden and a conveyancer, is listed as the official manager and a stakeholder in Orico General Trading LLC, situated in Dubai.
Furthermore, Simpson is publicly identified as the individual exercising substantial influence over Interior Architecture Landscape Limited (IAL Ltd), a British firm that contributed £200,000 to Reform during the past year, numbering Iranian magnate Sasan Ghandehari and his relatives among its clientele.
Legal papers from France, unveiled last month, characterized Orico as an affiliate of the Iranian entity Omran Razavi International Co. The Iranian collective is predominantly owned by the Astan Quds Razavi religious endowment, a foremost financial institution in Iran currently subject to US penalties.
As per a 2020 arbitration filing, merely three months subsequent to its establishment in Dubai in June 2012, Orico consented to furnish Omran Razavi with commodities and provisions. A year subsequent, it finalized a €145 million agreement as a component of a pact with the state-controlled Telecommunications Infrastructure Company of Iran (TIC).
While Orico refrained from commenting, an individual associated with the company stated that Omran Razavi functioned as a collaborative enterprise between an overseas financier and Astan Quds Razavi (AQR). Inquiries regarding Sasan Ghandehari’s potential identity as the foreign investor were not addressed.
The source affiliated with Orico asserted that the firm was “privately held” and “is not, nor has it ever been, a subsidiary of any Iranian governmental body, either directly or indirectly.”
“Prior to March 2016 and the enigmatic demise of its enduring guardian, AQR sustained its autonomy from the Iranian administration and the IRGC [Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps],” the individual further remarked.
The connection uniting Orico and Iran became apparent through a judicial decree issued last month by the Conseil d’État, France’s supreme administrative tribunal, which endorsed the revocation of asylum status from an unnamed male.
Designated as “Mr C,” the individual was purportedly accused of misappropriating numerous millions of euros for his “individual financial gain” while serving in capacities at AQR, Omran Razavi, and Orico. The source associated with Orico refuted that Mr C had been employed by the enterprise.
During 2021, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on AQR, citing its dominion over “significant portions of the Iranian economy” and its affiliations with the then-supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with high-ranking government functionaries.
The supreme leader of Iran designates the principal of AQR; in 1979, Khamenei assumed the position of “chief of the attendants” for the entity. It operates under the direct oversight of both the Iranian president and the supreme leader.
The US Treasury reported that, in 2021, Ahmad Marvi, a clergyman and intimate collaborator of Khamenei, was at the helm of AQR; he perished in an Israeli aerial assault in February of the current year. Prior to this, AQR had been managed by Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s former president.
The erstwhile guardian of AQR, cleric Ayatollah Abbas Vaez-Tabasi, succumbed to “pulmonary issues” after entering a coma at 80 years old in 2016. Vaez-Tabasi, whom Khamenei eulogized as a “compassionate and perceptive sibling to me” following his passing, had Raisi appointed as his successor.
Raisi — who fostered robust connections with the elite IRGC, itself subject to global sanctions — assumed the presidency in 2021, subsequently perishing in a helicopter accident in 2024.
The individual associated with Orico stated that Raisi’s appointment aimed to “facilitate the complete appropriation” of AQR by the IRGC, and that in May 2016, he “unlawfully seized all holdings pertinent to Orico, alongside Omran’s international investors . . . under the guise of national security.”
The connection of Simpson to Reform has been challenged by Liam Byrne, who presides over the UK House of Commons business and trade select committee. In February, the prominent Labour Member of Parliament requested that Companies House, the UK’s corporate register, commence a formal inquiry into the veracity of IAL Ltd’s records.
Based on its financial statements, IAL possessed £81,432 in liquid assets as of January 2025. From June to August 2025, it extended seven contributions to Reform, accumulating to £200,000, as reported by the Electoral Commission.
Ghandehari and his relatives are patrons of IAL Ltd, concurrently, the enterprise’s previous proprietor, Richard Darby, is employed by HP Trust, which serves as Ghandehari’s family investment firm, as per a document examined by the FT.
HP Trust financially supported Farage’s attendance at the World Economic Forum in Davos during February. Ghandehari has disavowed being the origin of IAL’s contributions to Reform.
IAL, asserting its expertise in opulent residential aesthetics, informed the FT via a communiqué that the corporation was “involved in agreements with cumulative worth surpassing £15 million.”
“These represent active and current undertakings, which facilitated the company’s ability to render contributions to Reform,” it further stated. IAL and Simpson offered no remarks concerning Simpson’s association with Orico.
Counsel for Ghandehari chose not to provide a statement.
Altogether, Simpson appears as the director for four operational enterprises, each registered at the identical location in Chiswick, West London.
During a press briefing in February, Farage declared that although he was acquainted with the majority of his benefactors, Simpson was not among them. Farage’s representative had earlier informed the Sunday Times that the Ghandeharis “maintain amicable relations with the political group.”
Reform UK asserted in a communiqué: “This narrative pertains to an organization [Orico] that has not provided contributions to us. We can affirm that we have executed all necessary verifications concerning corporate benefactors.”