Iran's Supreme Leader Candidate Built Secret $476M Property Empire in Europe

The son tipped to succeed Iran's late Supreme Leader has allegedly amassed a secret real estate empire worth 400 million euros ($476 million) across Europe, according to investigative reports.

Mojtaba Khamenei, the second son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is suspected of using Iranian businessman Ali Ansari as a conduit to acquire luxury properties in the UK, Germany, Austria, and Spain, European outlet Euractiv reported Monday.

The portfolio includes a luxury villa in an affluent London neighborhood purchased for 73 million pounds ($92 million) in 2013, a Frankfurt hotel acquired in 2011, an Austrian ski resort, and a golf resort in Mallorca, Spain. All properties are registered under Ansari's name or his shell companies.

The funds were traced to Iranian oil revenues, routed through financial institutions in Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the United Arab Emirates before reaching the paper companies, the report found.

Western media outlets including Bloomberg have recently raised similar allegations that Ansari serves as a financial conduit for Mojtaba. Frankfurt city authorities have been investigating since 2024 how Iran-linked capital flowed into the Ansari-owned hotel operated by U.S. chain Hilton.

Ansari was placed on the UK government's sanctions list in October last year over alleged ties to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The revelations come as the Trump administration intensifies pressure on Tehran, with the U.S. president declaring "uninterrupted precision strikes" against Iran.