New reports revealed the details of a secret Israeli operation that spanned years, aiming to recruit former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as an intelligence asset and a potential candidate to lead Iran after the fall of the regime, before the plan ended in failure and he was arrested by the Revolutionary Guard intelligence service and placed under house arrest.
According to a report published by the Israeli channel “N12”, based on an extensive investigation by the “New York Times”, the operation included secret meetings, financing Ahmadinejad’s stay and trips, in addition to preparing a plan to remove him from Tehran during the war with Iran.
Four Iranian officials told the New York Times that Ahmadinejad was arrested and is currently under house arrest under the supervision of the Revolutionary Guards’ intelligence service, after his relationship with Israel was revealed as part of the plan aimed at overthrowing the regime.
Ahmadinejad appeared in public for the first time last week during Ali Khamenei’s funeral ceremony, but his condition seemed not good.
The report quoted American officials as saying that Israel secretly paid for Ahmadinejad’s residence and travel costs in recent years, while Mossad members met with him on several occasions outside Iran, including visits he made to the Hungarian capital, Budapest.
According to the report, the basic phase of communications began in 2024, when the Ludovica University of Public Service in Budapest extended an invitation to Ahmadinejad to participate in a conference on climate change.
The university’s president, Professor Gergy Deli, said that he received an invitation request from a senior official in the Hungarian government, who explained to him that the conference would actually be used as a cover for meetings between Ahmadinejad and Israeli intelligence officials.
Daily acknowledged that he was aware that the invitation might harm his reputation and the reputation of the university, but he decided to cooperate because he believed that “if two enemies want to talk to each other, space must be made for it.”
According to American and Iranian officials, over the years, Israel has invested efforts to recruit Ahmadinejad.
The report indicated that former Mossad chief David Barnea personally arrived in Budapest in 2024 to meet with the former Iranian president, before the Mossad informed the CIA of its success in establishing a communication channel with him.
The report described this step as an exceptional shift, given that during his presidency of Iran between 2005 and 2013, Ahmadinejad was associated with accelerating the Iranian nuclear program, repeatedly called for the destruction of Israel, and was known for denying the Nazi Holocaust.
However, American officials reported that Israel secretly covered his stay and travel expenses in recent years, while Mossad members met with him several times outside Iran, especially during his visits to Budapest.
The report indicated that Ahmadinejad witnessed a noticeable transformation after the end of his presidential term, as he softened his positions and his anti-Israel tone, and began to present himself in a more moderate manner.
He also conducted interviews in which he criticized the Iranian security services and corruption within the ruling establishment, addressed cultural topics, changed his clothing style, and began learning the English language.
But many inside Iran saw this shift as nothing more than an attempt to restore his popular presence and strengthen his political position.
Although years have passed since he left the presidency, Ahmadinejad continued to enjoy support within segments of the working class, while those close to him were convinced that his real goal was to one day return to power.
One of his former close associates said that Ahmadinejad did not act out of a financial motive, because he already had a wide economic network, noting that his primary motive was his desire to return to a position of leadership.
According to a close associate, Ahmadinejad told people from his inner circle that he aspires to become the future leader of Iran with the help of foreign powers.
The source explained that Ahmadinejad, after being prevented 3 times from running for presidential elections, came to the conclusion that he would not be able to return to power as long as the current regime existed.
Ahmadinejad feared, according to the same source, that the United States and Israel, in the event of a war breaking out and the fall of the regime, would prefer to appoint an opposition figure who lives outside the country and does not know Iran from the inside.
He presented himself as capable of leading reforms similar to those led by former Russian President Boris Yeltsin.
He also said that if he returns to power, Iran will recognize Israel and normalize relations with it within the “Abraham Accords” launched by US President Donald Trump.
According to the report, the Israeli intelligence services were monitoring at that stage the widening rift between Ahmadinejad and the Iranian leadership, especially after he was prevented from running again for the presidency.
At the same time, the Revolutionary Guards’ intelligence service’s suspicions about him escalated, especially after he began publishing public messages to Trump, and then to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The report suggested that the first contact between Israel and Ahmadinejad had already begun in 2023, during a visit he made to Guatemala to participate in an environmental conference.
Ahmadinejad was then almost unable to leave Iran, after security personnel prevented him from boarding the plane in Tehran.
He protested for hours inside the airport, taking photos with travelers, and posting updates on social media, before he was finally allowed to leave the country.
In 2024, Ahmadinejad arrived for the first time in Budapest to participate in the Ludovica University conference, where, according to the report, he met with Mossad chief David Barnea.
Two months before the outbreak of war, Ahmadinejad returned to Budapest again, and the visit was also used as a cover for meetings with Israeli intelligence officials.
His guards from the “Ansar” unit of the Revolutionary Guard accompanied him on all his trips abroad, but they reported that during the visit he succeeded in escaping them at least twice, and disappeared to hold long meetings.
When they confronted him about his disappearance, he said he was meeting with professors from the university.
During the conference, Ahmadinejad gave a lecture in English, in a move that was described as unusual for him. He also refrained from reciting the Quranic verse that he used to cite at the beginning of his speeches during his presidency.
Ahmadinejad spoke of “common humanity” and a “changed world order,” and presented his vision for the new world.
At the end of the visit, he presented the university president with a copy of the book “Shahnama” by the Persian poet Ferdowsi, while receiving the university’s logo from him.
In late February of this year, during the first days of the war between Israel and the United States on one side and Iran on the other, a plan began to remove Ahmadinejad from Tehran.
Four Iranian officials said that an Israeli strike targeted the compound where he was staying, before a black Peugeot car arrived and took him from the place.
American and Iranian officials claimed that Mossad members were inside the car, and that they had transported Ahmadinejad to a safe house inside Iran.
However, the report indicated that Ahmadinejad was disappointed with the Israeli plan and the way his ejection operation was carried out, and expressed extreme anger, before leaving the safe house in circumstances that are still unclear.
Since then, Ahmadinejad has not appeared in public until last week, when he participated in Ali Khamenei’s funeral procession in Tehran.
He appeared during the funeral ceremony standing silently, with his head bowed, surrounded by security personnel.
According to the four Iranian officials, Ahmadinejad is currently under house arrest imposed on him by the Revolutionary Guards intelligence service, after the authorities discovered a large part of his alleged contacts with Israel.
Thus, an Israeli attempt to turn one of its most prominent former opponents into an intelligence and political card inside Iran ended with the opposite result, after the man who was intended to be presented as a leader for the post-regime era turned into a detainee under the eyes of the Revolutionary Guard.
