Reviews of The Gainsborough Hotel speak of its spacious rooms, friendly staff and convenient location for visiting some of London’s most famous tourist sites.

It is fair to say all those who have enjoyed their stay at the hotel are probably unaware of any alleged connections the establishment has to oil smuggling and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRCG).

A closer look at the ownership of the property where the hotel sits, however, reveals it to be a company whose owner has been placed under sanctions by the US for masterminding a vast oil smuggling operation.

Salim Ahmed Said is an Iraqi-British citizen who runs a network of companies that have been selling Iranian oil falsely declared as Iraqi since 2020, said the US Treasury when it announced the sanctions this month.

The 47-year-old owns and runs companies that have smuggled oil for the benefit of the Iranian government and the IRGC.

Through bribery of Iraqi officials he has been able to pass off Iranian oil as if it originated from Iraq, through a terminal he runs just over the border.

The network of which his is part has "collectively shipped tens of millions of barrels of Iranian oil and other petroleum worth billions of dollars", the Americans allege.

An investigation by The National has uncovered the London-business connections of Mr Said, who the US says has two British passports and goes by several aliases.

Links to a Syrian shipping magnate, who is under US sanctions for his dealings with the Houthis and Hezbollah, can also be revealed. Ships involved in the black market Iranian oil trade link Said with Houthi and Hezbollah financier Abdul Jalil Mallah.

The US has described Mr Mallah as an "illicit shipping magnate", alleging he and his brother "use their shipping empire to support Iran’s malign activities and those of its proxies".

A joint investigation by The National and the Greek journalism organisation iMEdD revealed Mr Mallah allegedly appears to operate the business in Greece despite being under sanctions.

London hotels

Turn the corner on to Queensberry Place, after a short walk from South Kensington underground station, and at the end of the street the Natural History Museum’s imposing towers loom into view.

On the right-hand side of the road is The Gainsborough and directly opposite The Exhibitionist, its sister hotel. Both are run by the same Dublin-based company.

The Gainsborough building is owned by Robinbest and was bought for £6.5 million ($8.6 million) in 2018, according to accounts. Robinbest is in turn owned by The Willett Hotel, whose owner is Mr Said, and the company has assets of £27 million, according to its most recently filed accounts.

The Willett Hotel’s correspondence address is, however, The Exhibtionist Hotel, while its registered office is The Gainsborough Hotel. The building that is home to The Exhibitionist is owned by another company, The Exhibitionist Holdings.

The Exhibitionist Holdings' solicitor said his client's accountants were raising this crossover with Companies House "as a matter of urgency".

The Willett Hotel’s registered office was once the Exhibitionist Hotel’s site but it shifted across the road to The Gainsborough before again it moved, this time to an accountancy firm in east London, which was also the registered office of Robinbest.

An employee, who asked for his identity and that of the firm not to be revealed, confirmed the handsome townhouse was part of Mr Said’s empire when The National visited.

He said he was “very surprised” when told both the companies have been placed under sanctions by the US. “We were not aware that he was involved in the oil business, only hotels,” he said. “We’re not aware of any sanctions.”

The employee said the firm dealt only with Mr Said’s staff and never with him. They sent all the relevant paperwork needed to file accounts. “Everything is above board and the companies pay tax,” he said.

Both The Willett and Robinbest moved their registered office addresses to The Gainsborough soon after The National began its investigation.

Mr Said is from the town of Ranya in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region and first came to the UK in 2002 after which he was granted asylum, The Sunday Times reported.

His first business venture was a shop named Rhine in Leicester, which was dissolved in 2014. It is not known when he became involved in oil trading.