Iranian ex-president under house arrest after Israel attempted to recruit him – report

Iran reportedly placed former President Ahmadinejad under house arrest after uncovering Israeli bid to recruit him.

By World Israel News Staff

Israel spent years cultivating former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a potential intelligence asset and future leader of Iran, according to a report alleging that the unlikely relationship included secret payments, meetings with Israeli operatives and a personal encounter with then-Mossad director David Barnea.

Ahmadinejad is believed to be under house arrest by the intelligence branch of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps after authorities discovered significant portions of his alleged contacts with Israel, four senior Iranian officials told The New York Times.

Neither the Iranian government nor the IRGC has publicly confirmed his detention.

The Mossad and Ahmadinejad’s representatives also declined to comment on the allegations, leaving many details of the purported operation unverified.

The reported Israeli effort was extraordinary because Ahmadinejad became internationally known during his 2005-2013 presidency for Holocaust denial, incendiary rhetoric against Israel and support for Iran’s nuclear program.

He later fell out with then-supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, accused senior officials of corruption and repeatedly attempted to return to the presidency. Iran’s Guardian Council blocked his candidacy in 2017, 2021 and 2024.

According to the report, Israeli officials came to view Ahmadinejad as a figure who retained popular support and connections within Iran’s political and security establishment while harboring deep resentment toward the ruling system.

The operation allegedly went beyond exploring Ahmadinejad’s political usefulness. Israel reportedly made several secret payments to Ali Akbar Javanfekr, a longtime Ahmadinejad spokesman and associate, and Israeli intelligence personnel met him on multiple occasions.

One of the most unusual episodes reportedly occurred in Budapest in 2024.

A senior Hungarian government official asked Gergely Deli, rector of Budapest’s Ludovika University of Public Service, to invite Ahmadinejad to an event ostensibly dealing with climate change and environmental threats, according to the account.

Deli said he was informed that the invitation would provide cover for talks between the former Iranian president and Israeli intelligence representatives.

Explaining his decision to cooperate, Deli said that when “you have two enemies” seeking contact, “it’s best to do what you can to make them talk.”

Ahmadinejad’s visit to Budapest was publicly documented at the time, although the university released little information about it. Photographs showed him with Deli, while reports described him as a special guest at a closed environmental event that had not been advertised on the university’s website.

The new report claims that Barnea traveled personally to Budapest to meet Ahmadinejad. No independent evidence of the alleged encounter has been made public.

Israeli planners reportedly envisaged a far more ambitious role for Ahmadinejad than that of an intelligence source.

Under a broader plan for the collapse of the Islamic Republic, he was considered as a possible transitional leader who could take power after Khamenei and other senior officials were removed.

American officials were briefed on the proposal, and US intelligence officials later became involved in discussions concerning a post-regime government, according to earlier reporting.

The plan reportedly reflected expectations in Washington and Jerusalem that airstrikes, economic pressure, damage to government infrastructure and an anticipated uprising by Iranian opposition groups could cause the system to collapse rapidly.

Those expectations did not materialize. Kurdish forces did not launch the expected large-scale intervention, state institutions remained intact and no organized opposition movement emerged capable of taking control.

The alleged Ahmadinejad operation reached its most dramatic stage on February 28, the opening day of the US-Israeli war against Iran.

Israeli aircraft struck Ahmadinejad’s residential compound in eastern Tehran, hitting a structure used by his guards and destroying or damaging his armored vehicle.

Initial reports suggested that Israel had attempted to kill the former president.

The subsequent account contends that the actual purpose was the opposite: to eliminate the security personnel restricting Ahmadinejad’s movements and extract him from the compound.

Shortly after the strike, a black Peugeot reportedly arrived and carried Ahmadinejad away. Iranian and American officials familiar with the operation said Mossad personnel transported him to a clandestine safe house inside Iran.

The former president reportedly grew unhappy with the hurried extraction and increasingly skeptical of Israel’s plan to return him to national leadership. At some point, he left the safe house under circumstances that remain unclear.

Earlier accounts said Ahmadinejad had been wounded during the strike and abandoned the proposed political operation after narrowly escaping death.

He subsequently disappeared from public view, prompting false reports that he had been killed.

Ahmadinejad unexpectedly reappeared during the July funeral processions for Khamenei, who was killed in the February attack. Photographs published by an official channel associated with Ahmadinejad confirmed his attendance at the Tehran ceremony.

Reports described him as heavily guarded and unusually concealed by a face covering and thick clothing. He has not been seen publicly since.

Four senior Iranian officials now say the IRGC’s intelligence organization has placed him under house arrest after uncovering evidence of his contacts with Israel. His precise location and legal status remain unknown.

Abdolreza Davari, a former Ahmadinejad adviser who later became a critic, said he did not believe financial rewards would have provided sufficient motivation for cooperation.

“He has money; he has a wide economic network,” Davari said. “He would do it for power. He wants to be at the helm of power.”

Another person familiar with Ahmadinejad’s thinking said he had privately discussed returning to power with foreign support. He reportedly suggested that, if restored to leadership, he could normalize relations with Israel through an arrangement modeled on the Abraham Accords.

Such a reversal would represent a dramatic break from his presidential record.

Ahmadinejad repeatedly challenged Israel’s legitimacy while in office and drew international condemnation for denying the Holocaust.

His relationship with Khamenei later collapsed as Ahmadinejad challenged the supreme leader’s authority over cabinet appointments and defended aides accused by hardliners of corruption and political disloyalty.

IranMahmoud AhmadinejadMossad