Foreign media investigations have revealed that Mojtaba Khamenei, who recently took over as the Supreme Leader of Iran, owns multiple properties in London, including two apartments worth a total of £50 million (approximately $65 million) that overlook the Israeli embassy. Security experts warn of serious security vulnerabilities in this situation.
According to a year-long investigation by Bloomberg, Mojtaba Khamenei, also known as Mojtaba Khamenei, has properties in Western Europe and Dubai. Further investigations by British media revealed that two luxurious apartments are located in the affluent neighborhood of Kensington in London. These two apartments are situated on the sixth and seventh floors of the same building, with staff quarters on the lower floors.
These apartments are in close proximity to Kensington Palace, the official residence of Prince William and his wife in London.
The 56-year-old Mojtaba Khamenei has allegedly owned these two apartments through proxies since 2014 (purchased in 2014 and 2016 respectively). It took Bloomberg a year of investigation to confirm his true ownership.
The investigation also found that Mojtaba Khamenei, through agents and shell companies registered in the Isle of Man, owns up to 11 mansions in the affluent neighborhood of Hampstead in North London, with some located on The Bishops Avenue, known as “Billionaires’ Row.”
Most of these mansions are currently unoccupied, with some in a state of disrepair.
According to Bloomberg, financial transactions were traced through property records, confidential business documents, including hotel management agreements, company ownership details, and bank transfer records. Interviews with individuals directly involved in Mojtaba Khamenei’s financial transactions were also conducted.
A counterterrorism and security expert told the British Daily Mail that the proximity of the Kensington apartments to the Israeli embassy, less than 50 meters away, could potentially be used for surveillance and monitoring of embassy staff and visitors.
Roger Macmillan, former security director of Iran International, a satellite TV channel founded by Iranian dissidents, expressed concerns over this significant security loophole. He stated that individuals in the apartments could even capture audio conversations of embassy personnel in outdoor gardens using equipment to monitor window vibrations to extract internal voices.
The expert added that being less than 50 meters away could also allow hackers to infiltrate the Israeli embassy’s wireless network to monitor internet traffic.
He emphasized, “Iran could see the Israeli embassy from less than 50 meters away. Two apartments, direct line of sight, owned by Khamenei. This is not a property portfolio – this is a permanent surveillance platform.”
The investigation revealed that Mojtaba Khamenei oversees a vast investment empire, accumulating a property portfolio worth hundreds of millions of pounds globally, funded through the sale of sanctioned Iranian oil.
According to Bloomberg, Mojtaba Khamenei avoids registering these properties under his name, but is directly involved in the transactions, with the properties owned by a person named Ali Ansari.
It is believed that after Ansari purchased 11 properties in Hampstead for Mojtaba Khamenei in 2013, totaling £73 million at the time, Mojtaba Khamenei himself acquired the apartments adjacent to Kensington Palace in 2014 and 2016 for £16.7 million and £19 million, respectively. These two apartments are now valued at approximately £50 million in total.
Furthermore, Mojtaba Khamenei has also purchased properties in Dubai, Frankfurt, Germany, and the tourist destination of Mallorca, Spain, including hotels. Documents reviewed by Bloomberg indicated that transaction funds were transferred through bank accounts in the UK, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the UAE.
Farzin Nadimi, a Senior Research Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, stated, “Mojtaba has significant stakes or factual control in numerous entities in Iran and overseas. When you look at his financial network, Ali Ansari is his main account holder, making Ansari one of the country’s most influential oligarchs today.”
Documents from the UK Land Registry and Companies House reveal that the properties owned by Mojtaba Khamenei in Hampstead were purchased through a shell company named Birch Ventures Limited, registered in the Isle of Man, a tax haven under the jurisdiction of the British Crown, with Ansari as the actual owner.
Ansari, reportedly from a humble background, later became a wealthy Iranian oligarch and a close friend of the Khamenei family, apparently serving as a front for the Supreme Leader’s family.
All 13 properties owned by Mojtaba Khamenei in the UK, including the Kensington apartments, have been subject to restrictions by the UK Treasury since October last year, following the imposition of sanctions against Ansari by the UK Treasury, accusing him of being a “corrupt banker” providing funds to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Ansari has released a statement through his lawyer vehemently denying any financial or personal relationship with Mojtaba Khamenei and expressing his intention to challenge the sanctions imposed on him by the UK.
However, photographs from the funeral of Mojtaba Khamenei’s father in June 2025 show members of the Khamenei family and senior advisors attending the funeral.