Reports said the beneficial owner of luxury real estate purchased across Europe is Mojtaba Khamenei. Mojtaba Khamenei is the second son of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who died in the war between the United States and Israel and Iran. He is currently seen as a leading contender to become Iran's next supreme leader.
According to Euractiv, a European-focused outlet, on the 7th (local time), indications were found that the money trail of Iranian businessman Ali Ansari, who owns real estate worth about 400 million euros (about 690 billion won) in the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria and Spain, had consolidation to Mojtaba Khamenei. Properties under Ansari's or his company's name are said to include a luxury low-rise apartment in London purchased in 2013 for 73 million pounds (about 145 billion won), a hotel in Frankfurt, Germany, a ski resort in Austria, and a golf resort in Mallorca, Spain.
The funds used to purchase these properties were reportedly raised from Iran's oil sales revenue, routed through paper companies (shell companies), and moved via financial institutions in Switzerland, Liechtenstein and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Bloomberg and others also analyzed Ansari's real estate transactions recently and noted that he not only serves as a "fund conduit" for Mojtaba Khamenei but that Mojtaba Khamenei effectively controls these properties. Bloomberg said that since 2024, regarding Ansari's Frankfurt hotel operated by the U.S. hotel chain Hilton, Frankfurt city authorities in Germany have been investigating the sources of Ansari's funds.
Ansari was sanctioned by the British government in October last year over alleged ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran. He currently maintains that he has no financial or personal relationship with Mojtaba Khamenei. He also insists he has no connection with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.