Mahmoud Ahmadinejad placed under house arrest after alleged Mossad recruitment plot
The New York Times reported that Israeli intelligence agency Mossad spent years cultivating former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a potential asset for a regime‑change plan. Secret meetings were held in Budapest under the guise of climate‑change conferences at the Ludovika University in 2024 and 2025, and Mossad is said to have paid for his travel and accommodation.
According to the report, the operation aimed to install Ahmadinejad as Iran’s leader after a US‑Israeli military strike on Tehran on 28 February that hit his compound. Mossad agents allegedly moved him to a safe house inside Iran, but he grew disillusioned, left the hideout and later reappeared publicly at the funeral of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Iranian authorities subsequently placed him under house arrest, monitored by the intelligence wing of the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Ahmadinejad’s office has denied the allegations, calling the story fabricated. Israeli officials have not commented, and the Iranian government has not issued an official statement beyond confirming the house arrest.
The episode highlights covert Israeli attempts to influence Iran’s political future and the heightened tensions surrounding the ongoing US‑Israel‑Iran conflict.