Controversy Erupts Over New Iranian Supreme Leader's Luxury London Property Holdings
Multiple Western media outlets have reported that Mojtaba Khamenei, recently appointed as Iran’s Supreme Leader, owns a number of properties of substantial value in London. These include luxury apartments located near the Israeli Embassy.
The Telegraph revealed that Mojtaba owns two luxury apartments in the elite Kensington area of West London, estimated to be worth more than £50 million, situated very close to Kensington Palace, the official residence of the Prince and Princess of Wales.
Additionally, reports reference another property network attributed to Khamenei in the Hampstead area of North London. In the area known as “Billionaire’s Row,” approximately 11 luxury properties are suspected to be connected to him through business intermediaries and shell companies.
Overall, the estimated value of the property portfolio attributed to this network is believed to reach £200 million. Many of these properties are reported to be rarely occupied, and some are even in a state of disrepair.
Security experts have highlighted the location of the two Kensington apartments as being very close to the Israeli Embassy, viewing the proximity as potentially creating security risks through the possibility of monitoring activity around the diplomatic mission.
“These two apartments with direct line of sight are not merely a property portfolio; they could serve as a platform for permanent surveillance,” said counter-terrorism expert Roger Macmillan, as quoted by English media on Wednesday (11 March 2026).
The properties are known to have been purchased through a network of shell companies registered in the Isle of Man and managed through an intermediary named Ali Ansari. Ansari himself has been sanctioned by Western authorities for allegedly having connections to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), though he denies the allegations.
English authorities have also reportedly frozen a number of property assets connected to this network. This action was taken as part of efforts to counter alleged financial flows related to activities violating international sanctions.
Previously, Mojtaba Khamenei officially replaced his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as Iran’s Supreme Leader following a decision by the country’s Assembly of Experts. He became Iran’s third leader since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and assumed leadership amid escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.