The United States and Israel were considering installing former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the country’s new leader. This was reported by The New York Times, citing American government sources.
The plan included a strike on the Tehran house where Ahmadinejad was under house arrest. On the first day of the war, the Israeli Air Force attacked the building housing the Revolutionary Guards soldiers who served as his guards — satellite images confirm this. But the strike also wounded Ahmadinejad himself. According to the NYT, after being injured, he became disillusioned with the regime-change plan. Since then, he has not appeared in public and his whereabouts are unknown.
The choice of Ahmadinejad as a future leader seems far from obvious. During his years as president (2005–2013), he was a staunch supporter of Iran’s nuclear program, a fierce critic of the United States, and called for Israel to be wiped off the map. He later turned against the ayatollahs’ regime, accusing the government of corruption, but was barred from presidential elections three times (in 2017, 2021, and 2024) while his associates ended up in prison. There is no information about any ties between Ahmadinejad and the West, and the NYT does not explain what could have persuaded him to participate in the American-Israeli plan.
According to the newspaper, Trump was likely inspired by the Venezuelan precedent: after US special forces captured and removed President Nicolas Maduro from the country, his successor Delcy Rodriguez expressed willingness to cooperate with Washington.
On the first day of the war, airstrikes eliminated Iran’s top leadership, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. His son Mojtaba was named the new Supreme Leader, though he too was seriously wounded. In mid-April, Reuters sources reported that he was still recovering but was participating in crucial negotiations with the United States, including on a nuclear deal.
