Companies linked to Iran and the Kremlin are approved by Home Office to sponsor work visas despite being under UK sanctions

By DAVID SHIPLEY and RORY TINGLE, HOME AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT Published: 09:48, 14 July 2026 | Updated: 09:50, 14 July 2026 Four companies are approved by the Home Office to sponsor worker visas despite being under UK sanctions for their links to the Russian and Iranian regimes. British nationals are banned from doing business with the firms, yet they all appear on an official list of companies with licences to bring employees to the UK.  They include Russian airline Aeroflot and cryptocurrency platform Exmo Exchange, as well as two Iranian state-owned banks, an investigation by the Daily Mail, an independent researcher and the Centre for Migration Control found. Aeroflot, Russia's flagship airline, is owned by the Kremlin and has been hailed by Vladimir Putin for its resilience in the face of British, American and EU sanctions.  The UK Sanctions List - which is run by the Foreign Office - defines the airline as 'obtaining a benefit from and supporting the Government of Russia'.  An entry for Exmo Exchange says there are 'reasonable grounds' to believe it is also supporting the Kremlin by providing financial services, resources or technology to 'an involved person... who is carrying on business in a sector of strategic significance to the Government of Russia'. The Iranian banks, Melli and Persia International, were both sanctioned under the Iran (Sanctions) (Nuclear) scheme in September 2025 for allegedly contributing to 'the proliferation or development of nuclear weapons in, or for use in, Iran'.  Vladimir Putin meeting Aeroflot CEO Sergei Aleksandrovsky at the Kremlin in Moscow last April  Yet despite the Foreign Office considering all four companies to be allies of Britain's enemies, they all appear on the latest Register of Licensed Sponsors (Workers) document published on July 3.  Licensed visa sponsors have been officially vetted and approved by the Home Office to hire non-UK citizens.  The Russian and Iranian firms are rated 'A' for compliance, signifying they are able to issue certificates of sponsorship, which allows workers to apply for several types of visas, including skilled workers visas and health and care worker visas. Research shows that Persia International and Melli both sponsored workers to come to the UK in the years before they were sanctioned.  A government spokesman insisted they have not sponsored any worker visas since their sanctioning. It is unclear whether any workers they sponsored previously are still in the UK. Shadow national security minister Alicia Kearns called for an urgent tightening of the rules.  'It beggars belief that companies sanctioned for their links to Russia and Iran can not only still sponsor UK visas, but the Home Office has also handed them a gold star for compliance,' she told the Mail.  Aeroflot is Russia's flagship airline and is sanctioned by the US and EU as well as the UK 'Russia and Iran are waging a hybrid war on Britain: sabotage, disinformation, assassination plots on our streets.  'Yet Home Office rules say sanctioned firms will only ''normally'' lose their licence. Normally isn't good enough. Sanctions must mean automatic, immediate revocation - no discretion, no loopholes.  'These four companies should be stripped of their sponsor status today, and the rules rewritten so this can never happen again.' The sponsor list also includes companies controlled by sanctioned individuals including former Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich.  One of the firms is Chelsea Digital Ventures Ltd, which was set up to use Chelsea FC's intellectual property to produce digital consumer products, such as apps and nutrition programmes. Companies House records list Abramovich as a 'person with significant control'.  The businessman was sanctioned by the UK in 2022 following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine for his alleged ties to Putin and investments in Russia.  He was forced to sell Chelsea in May 2022 for £2.5billion. The money remains frozen in a UK bank account amid a dispute between the UK Government, which wants the money to be used for humanitarian purposes in Ukraine, and Abramovich - who wants it to go to 'all victims of the war'.  A second sanctioned oligarch, Eugene Tenenbaum, is listed as an active director of Chelsea Digital Ventures Ltd. Another Russia-linked company, Curzon Square Ltd, was sanctioned in April 2023, but also remains on the visa sponsor list with an 'A' rating. Iranians walk past banners showing portraits of the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei last month  A Government spokesman said: 'No skilled worker visas have been issued after these companies were sanctioned, and their activities remain regularly reviewed. 'We have taken robust action against Russia and Iran. The UK has now sanctioned over 3,400 individuals, businesses, and ships under the Russia sanctions regime, as well as sanctioning Iran's IRGC in its entirety. 'Our message is clear – sponsor licenses will be revoked if they would contravene sanctions imposed on a business.' Yesterday, it emerged Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) will be banned by Sir Keir Starmer under new powers fast-tracked through Parliament. The IRGC, the feared military arm of the Iranian regime, will be designated a threat to national security with its members facing life imprisonment.  The Iranian group Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right (IMCR), and Russia's GRU military intelligence volunteer corps will also be banned under the proposals.  The Prime Minister said: 'We will never let Britain be a playground for states who want to spread fear, division and violence on our streets. 'We have already taken tough action against the Iranian regime and those linked to it, and against Russian operatives and networks targeting our country. 'These new powers will make it easier to prosecute and lock up anyone carrying out their dirty work here in Britain.'