Israel courted Iran’s former hardline president for post-regime role, reports claim

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reportedly wooed by Mossad agents after distancing himself from Khamenei

• https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/jul/13/us-iran-strikes-middle-east-strait-of-hormuz-military-latest-news-updates">Middle East crisis live – latest updates

Israel tried to recruit Iran’s intensely anti-Zionist former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to lead a new post-Islamic regime in Tehran, even going as far as sending its top spy to Budapest to meet him, according to media reports.

The remarkable quest to turn a leader who had denied the Holocaust and called for Israel’s erasure began in 2022, according to https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/13/us/politics/israel-mahmoud-ahmadinejad-iran.html">reporting by the New York Times and the https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-security/2026-07-13/ty-article/.premium/inside-the-mossad-plot-to-install-ahamadinijad-as-irans-leader/0000019f-5b28-de66-a5bf-5b7b3bbd0000?gift=3999beb299344a59b14885c489acdae5">Israeli newspaper Haaretz, and continued even after Israel became engaged in a brutal campaign in Gaza against Hamas, a key Iranian ally.