The The New York Times has reported that at the beginning of the war with Iran, the United States and Israel wanted Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to become the country’s new leader.
In an exclusive report, The New York Times wrote: “A few days after Israeli strikes in the first waves of the war killed Iran’s Supreme Leader and other senior officials, President Donald Trump publicly said that it would be better if ‘someone from within’ Iran took control of the country.”
The newspaper added: “It has now emerged that the United States and Israel entered this conflict with a specific and highly unexpected figure in mind: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the former Iranian president known for his strongly anti-Israel and anti-American positions.”
Citing American officials, the report said that “this bold plan, devised by the Israelis and discussed with Ahmadinejad, quickly collapsed.”
According to U.S. officials and one of Ahmadinejad’s associates quoted by the newspaper, “On the first day of the war, he was injured in an Israeli airstrike on his home in Tehran an attack intended to free him from house arrest. They said Ahmadinejad survived the strike, but afterward became discouraged about the regime-change plan.”
The report states that since then, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has not appeared in public, and his current whereabouts and physical condition remain unknown.
The newspaper also wrote: “How Ahmadinejad was recruited to participate in this plan remains unclear.”
It further added: “The existence of this previously unreported effort was part of Israel’s multi-stage plan to overthrow Iran’s religious government. The episode shows that Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu not only miscalculated how quickly they could achieve their goals, but also gambled on a risky leadership-change plan for Iran one that even some Trump aides considered unrealistic. Some U.S. officials were especially doubtful about the possibility of restoring Ahmadinejad to power.”
Anna Kelly, a spokesperson for the White House, responded to the report by saying: “President Trump made the objectives of Operation Epic Wrath clear from the beginning: destroying Iran’s ballistic missiles, disabling their production facilities, sinking Iran’s navy, and weakening its proxy forces. The U.S. military achieved or even exceeded all its objectives, and our negotiators are now seeking an agreement that will permanently end Iran’s nuclear capabilities.”
The report noted that a spokesperson for Mossad declined to comment.
During the early days of the Iran war, reports circulated claiming that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had been targeted by U.S. and Israeli attacks. Initially, some media outlets reported that he had been killed, but Iranian media later denied those claims.
According to the newspaper, the security checkpoint at the entrance to Ahmadinejad’s house was targeted in the attack. In the following days, Iranian state media confirmed that several of his guards members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who were both protecting him and keeping him under house arrest had been killed.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad served as Iran’s president from 2005 to 2013 for two consecutive terms. He called for Israel to be wiped off the map, strongly supported Iran’s nuclear program, harshly criticized the United States, and was known for the violent suppression of domestic opponents.
In recent years, however, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has increasingly criticized Iran’s leaders and has twice been disqualified from participating in presidential elections.
Writer:Salima Aryaei
