Iran's New Leader Owns Luxury Real Estate In Europe
- 9.03.2026, 21:30
Investigation.
Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei controls a vast network of overseas assets, including luxury real estate in Europe and Britain. This is according to an investigation by Bloomberg, which the agency published on January 26 and updated on March 9 in connection with Khamenei's election.
Sources and documents say the 56-year-old son of previous Supreme Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is linked to an investment network worth hundreds of millions of dollars. It includes, among other things, real estate on Bishops Avenue in London - the so-called billionaires' street - as well as hotels and other properties in Europe and the Middle East.
According to the Daily Mail, London apartments on the sixth and seventh floors of a building on Palace Green worth more than £50 million linked to Khamenei have a direct view of the Israeli embassy compound. Security experts believe that such proximity - less than 50 meters - could theoretically allow surveillance of staff and visitors to the diplomatic mission.
The two apartments next to the embassy and another 11 apartments on Bishops Avenue in London are collectively valued at about £200 million.
The Bloomberg journalists found that the assets are not directly registered to Khamenei, but to businessman Ali Ansari and a number of offshore companies registered in different jurisdictions. Among them are structures on the Isle of Man and in the Persian Gulf countries.
The sources said the funds for investments came from operations related to the sale of Iranian oil through a complex network of intermediaries and companies. This allowed the capital to be withdrawn abroad despite sanctions imposed on Khamenei by the US in 2019.
Assets include luxury homes in upscale neighborhoods in London, a villa in one of Dubai's upscale neighborhoods, and five-star hotels in Frankfurt and on the Spanish island of Mallorca. Some of the properties, according to the investigation, have already fallen under restrictions following the imposition of sanctions against Ansari.
Experts note that the network of assets demonstrates how members of Iran's elite have been able to move significant funds abroad despite one of the toughest sanctions systems in the world. At the same time, official propaganda in Iran traditionally presents the country's leadership as leading an ascetic and modest lifestyle.