Trump nixed Israeli plan to overthrow Iranian regime after Turkish pressure – report

Turkey’s president opposed the Kurdish element of the plan and successfully convinced Trump to cancel it.

By World Israel News Staff

The Mossad armed and supported Kurdish opposition groups in Iran using weapons seized by the IDF from Hamas and Hezbollah stockpiles, according to an Israeli media report.

The assistance allegedly extended far beyond the transfer of captured weapons.

Intelligence sources cited in the report said Kurdish factions received substantial financial support, vehicles, rifles, ammunition, anti-tank weapons, grenades, mortar rounds, and other military equipment.

The objective was to strengthen the Kurdish groups’ operational capabilities and position them to challenge the Iranian regime from within.

According to the report, the effort was part of a broader strategy developed jointly with the CIA. Before the outbreak of hostilities, Mossad Director David Barnea reportedly briefed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior U.S. officials on the multi-pronged plan.

The strategy sought to empower Kurdish forces to weaken the regime and potentially contribute to its downfall. The report said Netanyahu approved the initiative as part of a wider effort aimed at bringing about regime change in Tehran.

However, the plan was ultimately abandoned after U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly shelved the Kurdish component following pressure from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Turkey has long opposed Kurdish independence movements and reportedly feared that a strengthened Kurdish force could pursue greater autonomy or statehood.

Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of a Hamas co-founder, claimed in a post on X that Israel and the United States had planned to install former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a transitional leader following the collapse of the Islamic Republic.

Yousef said the plan unraveled after the decision was made not to use Kurdish forces to help topple the regime.

According to Yousef, details of the proposal were revealed by Maj. Gen. (res.) Tamir Hayman, the former head of Israeli Military Intelligence during Operation Roaring Lion, during an appearance on PBS’s Firing Line.

Yousef alleged that Ahmadinejad had been consulted before the operation and initially agreed to participate in a transitional government.

He further claimed that Israel struck Ahmadinejad’s residence in Tehran on February 28 in an effort to free him from house arrest and allow him to re-emerge as a political figure.

According to Yousef, the broader strategy envisioned a Kurdish military push into northwestern Iran that would spark uprisings among ethnic minority groups, tie down large numbers of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Basij forces, and create conditions that could lead to the regime’s collapse.

Yousef said Erdoğan opposed the Kurdish element of the plan and successfully convinced Trump to cancel it.

He also claimed Ahmadinejad was wounded during the strike on his residence, survived the attack, and later distanced himself from the operation.

Yousef said he personally met Kurdish leaders in Erbil during the first two weeks of the war and described them as ready to participate in the effort.

Arguing that the cancellation of the Kurdish component doomed the broader strategy, Yousef contended that the Iranian regime remained in power because the plan was never fully implemented.

“This is not theory. This is what actually happened,” Yousef wrote.