Details Revealed of Mossad Plot to Recruit Ahmadinejad
A New York Times report has revealed details about Tel Aviv’s efforts to recruit former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, alongside Tehran’s attempts to counter these moves, including placing the former president under house arrest. Citing an extensive investigation that included four Iranian sources, the newspaper stated that Israel had conducted a secret operation over several years aimed at recruiting Ahmadinejad as an intelligence asset, with plans to later install him as Iran’s leader in the event that the current regime is overthrown.
According to the report, the operation included a step in early 2024, when a Hungarian government official asked Gergely Dely, a university president in Budapest, to invite Ahmadinejad to attend a conference on climate change. The newspaper quoted Dely as saying the conference served as a cover for secret talks between Ahmadinejad and Israeli intelligence officials, adding that Dely agreed to send the invitation in hopes of facilitating dialogue between the two sides.
In the same context, the newspaper quoted former U.S. officials as saying that David Barnea, head of Israel’s General Security Service (Shin Bet), personally traveled to Budapest to meet with Ahmadinejad. The newspaper noted that Israel made secret payments to Ali Akbar Javanfekr, Ahmadinejad’s spokesperson, and that Mossad agents met with him several times before launching an operation codenamed “The Lion’s Roar.” The report added that Ahmadinejad’s residential complex was struck by an Israeli airstrike in February, targeting his security detail and armored vehicle, after which Mossad agents transferred him to a secret safe house.
Ahmadinejad remained in hiding until his later appearance at the funeral of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei a few days ago. The newspaper added that following this, the intelligence wing of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps detained the former president and placed him under house arrest, according to Iranian officials.
Sources close to Ahmadinejad indicated that his motives were not financial. The New York Times quoted his former advisor, Abdolreza Davari, as saying in a telephone interview: “He has money and a wide economic network, and he did this for power and his desire to return to the seat of power.” Another close associate stated that Ahmadinejad was seeking to return to power with the help of external forces, noting that he had lost faith in the Iranian system after being barred from the presidential race three times. The source said the former president had expressed his dissatisfaction with regime leaders, including Khamenei, in private gatherings, and affirmed that he intended to normalize relations with Israel if he returned to power.
