Iran

Report: Israel Courted Ahmadinejad to Lead Post-War Iran

Was Mossad grooming Ahmadinejad as a covert asset or is that laughable disinformation?

Published JUL 14

Report: Israel Courted Ahmadinejad to Lead Post-War Iran

Story

Above: Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran on June 2, 2024. Image credit: Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto/Getty Images

The Facts

Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is believed to be under house arrest in the custody of the IRGC's intelligence wing after Iranian authorities uncovered details of his alleged contacts with Israel.
Arab News
Israel National News
A Feb. 28 Israeli airstrike hit Ahmadinejad's compound, targeting his bodyguards' building and armored vehicle. Mossad operatives then transported him to a safe house inside Iran, though he left under unclear circumstances.
Al Arabiya English
The New York Times
Then-Mossad chief David Barnea traveled to Budapest in 2024 to meet Ahmadinejad personally, with the meetings arranged under the cover of academic conferences at Ludovika University of Public Service.
The Times of Israel
The Jerusalem Post
After leaving the presidency in 2013, Ahmadinejad was disqualified from running for president three times and grew increasingly critical of Iran's leadership, accusing senior officials of corruption and poor governance.
New York Post
Iran International
Iranian officials grew especially suspicious of Ahmadinejad after he shook off his security detail twice during a June 2025 trip to Budapest, as well as when he sent public letters to Donald Trump in 2017 and later to Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Al Jazeera
The New York Times

Sources Split

LEFT

CENTER

RIGHT

ESTAB
CRIT

CENTER

PRO
ESTAB

The Spin

Narrative A

Israel's Mossad spent years grooming Ahmadinejad as a covert asset and lining him up as Iran's leader, secretly paying for his housing and travel while orchestrating clandestine meetings in Budapest with then-spy chief David Barnea. The plan culminated in a dramatic Feb. 28 extraction from Tehran by Mossad operatives after an Israeli airstrike hit his compound.

Sandeep on X

The New York Times

Narrative B

The claim that Israel and the U.S. wanted Ahmadinejad as Iran's next leader is laughable propaganda designed to erode Iranian trust in Israel. Ahmadinejad is a Holocaust-denying extremist who cited the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and claimed Zionists poison rats to contaminate Iranian food — no serious intelligence operation would back this man. This story is regime-friendly disinformation.

Ida Turan on X

The Jerusalem Post