The Iranian Embassy in India has rejected reports by media outlets, including British newspaper The Sunday Times, claiming that Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei owned two apartments overlooking the Israeli embassy in London. The embassy described the allegations as “completely baseless” and said Khamenei does not own any property anywhere.
“Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei, like his esteemed father, owns no property, neither outside Iran nor inside the country. The Iranian people are well aware of his simple and non-ostentatious lifestyle,” the Iranian Embassy in India said.
The embassy further alleged that such claims were being circulated to create “a false image of his life and character” and insisted that the allegations have no credibility among Iranians.
“Even now, the Iranian people, because of his simple way of life and the love and affection they have for him, have been taking to the streets for 190 consecutive nights in support of him,” it said.
Earlier this week, The Sunday Times reported that two apartments allegedly linked to Iran’s newly appointed Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and located near the Israeli embassy in London had been put up for sale. The properties are reportedly situated in a building on Palace Green in Kensington, the same street where the Israeli embassy is located.
British media had also reported earlier this year that the two flats, located on the sixth and seventh floors of the building, were purchased through intermediaries in 2014 and 2016. Those reports, citing a Bloomberg investigation into what it described as Khamenei’s international property empire, said the apartments had only recently been traced back to him.
On Sunday, The Evening Standard and Daily Mail also reported that Mojtaba Khamenei owned two luxury apartments in west London overlooking the Israeli embassy. According to the reports, the properties were purchased using several intermediaries and were later linked to the Iranian leader.
The Times of London had previously reported on March 5 that the apartment building was located next to the Israeli embassy on Palace Green. The building’s location attracted further attention following reports concerning the alleged ownership of the flats.
The reports emerged shortly after four Iranian and British-Iranian men were arrested in London early Friday on suspicion of surveilling “locations and individuals” associated with the city’s Jewish community.
The Daily Mail quoted a terrorism and security expert as saying that the apartments’ location meant that “Iran owns the view into the back of the Israeli Embassy from less than 50 metres away.”
British newspaper reports subsequently drew connections between the sale of the two Palace Green apartments, earlier allegations regarding their ownership, their close proximity to the Israeli embassy and the heightened scrutiny following the arrests in London.
