Mojtaba Khamenei, the 56-year-old son of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, directs a significant overseas real estate network through intermediaries, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday citing a year-long investigation.
No assets appear directly in Mojtaba's name, but he has been actively involved in deals dating to at least 2011, according to Western intelligence assessments, insider accounts, real estate records, and confidential documents reviewed by Bloomberg.
The portfolio includes luxury London properties exceeding $138 million (one bought for $46.5 million in 2014), a villa in an elite Dubai district, and upscale hotels in Frankfurt and Mallorca.
Funding, largely from Iranian oil sales, moved through British, Swiss, Liechtenstein, and UAE banks via shell companies such as Ziba Leisure Ltd., Birch Ventures Ltd., and Emirati entities, as tracked by the report.
Iranian banker Ali Ansari, sanctioned by the UK in October, features as owner or director in many transactions. Ansari denies any connection to Mojtaba and plans to challenge the sanctions, the report said.
The sanctions on Ansari were imposed for allegedly financing Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards and building a European property portfolio worth about €400 million, according to a Financial Times investigation based on corporate filings.
The Financial Times reported that the assets include luxury properties across several European countries, ranging from a golf resort in Mallorca to a ski hotel in Austria.
The judiciary identified him as Hamidreza Sabet Esmailipour and said he was arrested on April 29, 2025. It said he was convicted of “espionage and intelligence cooperation,” alleging he communicated with an intelligence officer and handed over documents and classified information.
In a detailed account published by Mizan, the judiciary’s official media outlet, authorities said Sabet Esmailipour had carried out logistical and support tasks for what they described as Israeli intelligence operations, including moving vehicles between provinces and transferring funds. The report alleged some of the vehicles contained explosives intended for sabotage operations, claims that could not be independently verified.
Mizan said the man acknowledged cooperating with Mossad during interrogations and court proceedings, and that his death sentence was upheld by Iran’s Supreme Court before being carried out by hanging.
Iran has executed more than a dozen people in recent months on charges of spying for Israel, cases that human rights groups say often involve opaque legal proceedings.
Iranian authorities have said more than 700 people were detained on suspicion of espionage or collaboration with Israel following the conflict in June.
US-based rights group HRANA said in a report earlier this month that at least 313 prisoners were executed by hanging during a period of nationwide protests between late December and late January, adding that executions surged alongside mass arrests and a security crackdown as unrest spread and internet access was widely restricted.
