Israeli intelligence reportedly attempted to recruit former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to lead a new post-Islamic regime in Tehran, according to media reports.
The effort to turn the intensely anti-Zionist leader began in 2022 and continued even after Israel's campaign in Gaza against Hamas, a key Iranian ally.
High-Stakes Meetings and CIA Involvement
David Barnea, then head of Mossad, traveled to Hungary to meet Ahmadinejad after he was invited to speak at Ludovika University in Budapest in 2025.
Barnea skipped a security consultation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to focus on the recruitment, according to Haaretz.
After the meeting, Mossad informed the CIA about its contact with Ahmadinejad.
Israeli officials reportedly paid for Ahmadinejad's housing and travel, with operatives meeting him several times, including in Hungary under Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
The details emerged amid speculation about Ahmadinejad's fate after US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 killed several senior figures, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Ahmadinejad appeared at Khamenei's funeral, his first public appearance in months.
The New York Times reported that four Mossad agents drove him from his home after the strike and kept him at a safe house in Tehran.
However, Ahmadinejad became upset about the rescue mission and left the safe house under mysterious circumstances.
He is believed to have been taken into custody by the IRGC intelligence wing.
From Hardline Ideologue to Softer Image
Ahmadinejad's role in intensifying tensions with Israel over Iran's nuclear program during his presidency made the recruitment attempt striking.
He sponsored a conference questioning the Holocaust and called for Israel's erasure.
But after leaving office in 2013, his relationship with Khamenei deteriorated, and he was rejected three times from running for president again.
Ahmadinejad moderated his views, improved his English, and underwent an image makeover, trimming his beard and appearing to receive botox.
He also criticized regime crackdowns on protests, despite his role in suppressing the 2009 green movement.
According to Haaretz, Ahmadinejad concluded Iran could not survive international sanctions, leading to questions about his loyalties.
Internal Israeli disagreement over the mission, called Operation Puss in Boots, saw National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi dismiss it as wild fantasies, and IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir ordered a halt three days before launch.
Netanyahu overrode the disagreements and ordered it to proceed.
Iranian officials grew suspicious after Ahmadinejad slipped his security detail twice during a 2025 trip to Budapest.
Alex Vatanka of the Middle East Institute noted Ahmadinejad's disaffection was known to insiders, but questioned the timing of the reports.
