An Israeli operation to install Ahmadinejad?
The stories coming out of Iran nowadays are tricky, not always believable, and often peppered with more than the usual amount of propaganda.
That’s why when one report is interesting, we try to approach it with the proper care.
For some characters of this war, the stories come in a series of bombastic and mutually excluding revelations: new Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei is gay; he was killed in an airstrike; or rather, he was disfigured and maimed in an airstrike; or rather, he is alive and well and leading the country.
For former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the same is valid. Back in March, it was reported that he would have been killed in the first wave of Israeli airstrikes against Tehran.
And today, alternatively, a NYT report has arisen that the former president has been placed under house arrest by the country’s infamous Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The reason for his arrest is reportedly that Ahmadinejad was part of a ‘failed Israeli plot’ to install him in place of the current theocratic regime.
Israel spent years cultivating former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a potential intelligence asset and possible leader in a post-regime Iran.
As part of the effort, Israeli intelligence met with him abroad, including in Hungary, using academic events as cover for… pic.twitter.com/hxUR1K6tHe
— Clash Report (@clashreport) July 13, 2026
BREAKING: Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is reportedly under house arrest after Iran uncovered his secret contacts with Israeli intelligence.
— Polymarket (@Polymarket) July 13, 2026
The New York Post reported:
“The New York Times, citing four Iranian officials, reported Monday that the 69-year-old is being held by the IRGC’s intelligence wing after he left a safe house run by Israel’s Mossad.
Before last week, Ahmadinejad had not been seen in public since an Israeli airstrike hit his compound in the early hours of Operation Epic Fury Feb. 28, after which he was spirited away to the safe house, the Times reported, citing US and Iranian officials.
The former president, who ran Iran with an iron fist from 2005 to 2013, re-emerged last week — apparently flanked by security guards — during funeral ceremonies for the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the same day as the strike on Ahmadinejad’s compound.”
The Times of Israel reported:
“The [Israeli] campaign, which culminated in a strike on Ahmadinejad’s bodyguards to free him from house arrest on the first day of the US-Israel attack on Iran in February, included a meeting with Mossad chief David Barnea on the sidelines of an academic conference in Hungary.
A car secreted the former president away to a safe house after that attack, but he later left the safe house after growing disillusioned with Israel’s plan to install him, The Times reports.
Ahmadinejad’s current status is unclear, according to the report. He was seen briefly surrounded by guards — masked and wearing a heavy coat — at the funeral for slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei and is believed to be in IRGC custody over his ties with Israeli intelligence.”
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