Following a Bloomberg investigation into the asset network linked to Mojtaba Khamenei, the American company Hilton has launched a review over whether to continue managing a hotel in Germany. Mojtaba Khamenei is the second son of Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran’s regime.
Bloomberg reported on Thursday, February 12, 2026, citing informed sources, that Hilton Worldwide Holdings is evaluating whether continuing to operate the Hilton Frankfurt Gravenbruch hotel could expose the company to the risk of US sanctions.
According to Bloomberg’s recent findings, the ultimate beneficiary of the property is Mojtaba Khamenei, the second son of Ali Khamenei, who has been under US sanctions since 2019.
Possibility of Suspension or Termination of the Contract
According to Bloomberg, the Hilton Frankfurt hotel is operated under a long-term contract with Allsco Gravenbruch Hotelbetriebsgesellschaft mbH, a company that has owned the property since 2011.
Informed sources said that after the publication of Bloomberg’s report, the ownership structure was raised at senior levels within Hilton, and the company, alongside its internal reviews, has also sought the opinion of independent experts.
According to these sources, among the options under consideration are suspending or even terminating the management contract for the Hilton hotel in Frankfurt, and the final decision will depend on the outcome of the evaluations.
Ongoing Revelations About Mojtaba Khamenei’s Financial Network
The issue of the Hilton Frankfurt hotel’s connection to Mojtaba Khamenei follows Bloomberg’s earlier exposé of his property empire. A January 28, 2026, Bloomberg report revealed an extensive network of investments in Europe and the Middle East linked to Mojtaba Khamenei.
The report stated that the network includes a collection of luxury properties in London, including homes on Bishops Avenue—known as “Billionaires’ Row”—as well as hotels in Europe and offshore companies.
Bloomberg wrote that the structure of the transactions was arranged in such a way that no assets were directly registered under Khamenei’s name, and many of the purchases were made under the name of Ali Ansari, an Iranian businessman who has had a long-standing relationship with him.
According to the investigation, the financial resources for these purchases were transferred through accounts in banks in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the United Arab Emirates, and according to informed individuals, the original source of the funds traces back to Iranian oil sales.
In its previous report, Bloomberg described Ansari as the face of a major economic network in Iran that includes the Iran Mall project, wholesale markets, and Ayandeh Bank, a private Iranian bank. The outlet, citing informed sources, wrote that his connection to Mojtaba Khamenei dates back to the period when Ali Khamenei served as Iran’s president in the 1980s.
The United Kingdom previously placed Ansari on its sanctions list on October 30, 2025, arguing that he had financially supported the activities of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). However, according to Bloomberg, his name does not appear on the US sanctions list.
Damage to Hilton’s Brand Reputation
Geraldine Wong, an analyst at DBS Bank in Singapore, told Bloomberg that operating a hotel linked to sanctioned individuals could call Hilton’s reputation into question.
“Investors may question Hilton’s ESG framework and the associated reputational risks in operating an asset owned by sanctioned individuals.”
She added that given Hilton’s global operations, these risks are more likely to be reputational rather than operational or financial in nature.
Bloomberg noted that as an American company, Hilton is required to comply with US sanctions laws regardless of where its hotels operate.
According to information on Hilton’s website and official documents, under such agreements the local owner funds the costs and retains ownership of the property, while Hilton provides the brand, customer network, and sometimes day-to-day management, without making a direct capital investment in the project.
However, the disclosure of the hotel’s ultimate beneficiary has now placed Hilton’s management decisions under scrutiny. Bloomberg wrote that the choice facing the company is not merely commercial and could serve as a measure of its adherence to sanctions and its global credibility.
Bloomberg wrote that Hilton’s move comes at a time when Western governments have increased oversight of assets linked to Iran. These measures are part of broader efforts to respond to the bloody crackdown on Iran’s national uprising by Iran’s regime, which has resulted in the killing of thousands of people.
