ISRAEL HAYOM (by agreement with JNS)
Israel reportedly recruited Ahmadinejad in secret plan to topple Iran’s regime
Staff
July 13, 2026

Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was at the center of an Israeli plan to overthrow the regime in Tehran, with then-Mossad Director David Barnea traveling to Budapest in 2024 for a personal meeting with him, according to a New York Times investigation. The investigation, based on accounts from US and Iranian officials familiar with the matter, said Ahmadinejad is currently being held under house arrest by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ intelligence branch after authorities in Tehran uncovered a significant portion of his contacts with Israel. The recruitment operation reached its peak in late February this year, during the opening days of the war between the US and Israel and Iran. On Feb. 28, the day the war began, Israel struck Ahmadinejad’s residential compound in Tehran, hitting a building housing his security guards as well as his vehicle. Shortly after the strike, according to four senior Iranian officials, a black Peugeot arrived at the scene, picked up Ahmadinejad and quickly drove him away. READ MORE