Inside Israel’s Secret Operation to Cultivate Ahmadinejad

The New York Times  |  Mark Mazzetti, Julian E. Barnes, Farnaz Fassihi, Ronen Bergman

Israeli intelligence operatives launched a yearslong secret operation to groom former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as an intelligence asset to eventually install him as Iran's new leader. This covert initiative culminated in a dramatic, ultimately unsuccessful attempt to extract him to a Mossad safe house inside Iran during the early days of the war.

The operation relied on back-channel diplomatic maneuvers, including a Hungarian government official facilitating secret meetings disguised as climate change conferences at Ludovika University of Public Service in Budapest. American and Iranian officials confirmed that these European forums served as the primary contact points for the clandestine recruitment process. Although the extraction plan collapsed, the high-stakes effort underscores the depth of Israeli penetration into the upper echelons of the Iranian political establishment. The disclosure of this regime-change strategy reveals the extreme measures regional adversaries are willing to employ to reshape the Middle Eastern balance of power.

Comment

Deep intelligence penetration remains the most effective tool for regional deterrence. Covert recruitment of high-level political figures bypasses traditional military barriers. Such operations create severe internal paranoia within adversary command structures. This psychological disruption often degrades decision-making speed during active conflicts.

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