Israel Courted Ex-Iran President Ahmadinejad for Post-Regime Role

Israel reportedly attempted to recruit Iran's former hardline president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to lead a post-regime government in Tehran, according to reports from The New York Times and the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. This initiative reportedly began in 2022, a period when Ahmadinejad had begun to distance himself from Iran's current leadership.

The efforts involved sending Israel's top spy to Budapest to meet with Ahmadinejad. The reported recruitment drive continued even after Israel commenced its military campaign in Gaza against Hamas, an organization that is a significant ally of Iran. Ahmadinejad, known for his anti-Zionist rhetoric, including Holocaust denial and calls for Israel's destruction, was the target of this unusual diplomatic and intelligence effort.

Sources cited by The New York Times and Haaretz indicate that the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad, was behind these overtures. The reports suggest a complex and potentially risky strategy by Israel to influence the future political landscape of Iran, targeting a figure who, despite his past extremist statements, was perceived by some as a potential alternative to the current clerical rule.