Israel believed to have recruited former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Israeli spies reportedly attempted to recruit one of Iran’s most notorious politicians to lead a post-Ayatollah regime government, with two face-to-face meetings believed to have taken place in Hungary.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who served as the Iranian regime’s sixth president from 2005 to 2013, has long been viewed as a notorious hardline figure. He was vehemently anti-Zionist and repeatedly called for Israel’s destruction, and was infamous for his Holocaust denial. However, in recent years, his relationship with the Iranian regime’s Guardian Council had deeply soured, with Ahmadinejad barred from running in the 2017, 2021 and 2024 presidential elections.

Reporting from the New York Times and Haaretz has revealed that Mossad engaged in a multi-year operation attempting to turn the former Iranian politician, which included a meeting between Ahmadinejad and then-Mossad chief David Barnea, during a climate change conference held in Hungary. Several payments are believed to have been made by Israel to a spokesperson for Ahmadinejad, Ali Akbar Javanfekr.

According to this reporting, the Israeli airstrike on Ahmadinejad’s residence in late February was not intended to kill him, but rather to incapacitate those who had been effectively keeping him under house arrest on the orders of the regime. Mossad officials then took Ahmadinejad to a safe house, with the intention of subsequently installing him as leader when the regime collapsed. However, the regime’s survival led to Ahmadinejad becoming disillusioned with the Israeli plan, and he subsequently left the safe house. It is believed that he is currently being held under house arrest by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, although he was seen in public earlier this month attending the funeral of the regime’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei.

Ahmadinejad’s office has responded vehemently to the reports, describing them as “Hollywood-style claims…not worthy of denial” and disputing the claims that he was under house arrest.

In Israel, the reports of Ahmadinejad’s supposed recruitment have been met with some bemusement. Referring to the current Knesset fight over whether to arrest Strictly Orthodox (Charedi) men for attempting to dodge the draft, Avigdor Lieberman, head of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, said: “Who would have believed it would be easier to enlist Mahmoud Ahmadinejad than the Charedim?”

Abdolreza Davari, a former advisor and associate of Ahmadinejad, told the New York Times that Ahmadinejad would not have worked with Israel for money.

“He has money; he has a wide economic network”, Davari said.

“He would do it for power. He wants to be at the helm of power,”