In early 2024, an unexpected phone call came from a senior Hungarian government official to the president of a university in Budapest.

This disclosure comes amid ongoing tensions between Israel and Iran and intensifying Israeli efforts to counter Iranian influence in the region.

The official told the university's president, Professor Gergely Deli, that the Ludovika University of Public Service should organize a conference on climate change and extend an invitation to an unexpected guest: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the former Iranian president who is widely reviled.

The reason was even more surprising. The official told Deli that the conference was merely a cover to allow Ahmadinejad to hold secret talks in Budapest with Israeli intelligence operatives, his declared enemies.

Deli realized that complying with the request could damage his reputation and that of his university, but he said in an interview that he saw it as an opportunity to help save lives.

He said: 'You have two enemies, and if these two enemies want to talk to each other, it is better to do what you can to make them talk.'

American and Iranian officials familiar with the operation, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the information, said that Ahmadinejad's visit to the university in 2024 and his second visit the following year were part of a years-long Israeli effort to groom him as an intelligence asset who could be installed as Iran's leader at the right time.

Former American officials said that recruiting Ahmadinejad was such a high priority for Israel that the then-head of Israeli intelligence, David Barnea, traveled himself to the Hungarian capital in 2024 to meet Ahmadinejad. They added that the Mossad, Israel's foreign intelligence service, shortly afterward informed the CIA that it had been in contact with Ahmadinejad.

A photo published by 'Dolat-e Bahar,' the website of the former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's office, shows him participating in the funeral of the former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran on Monday.

Israel's decision to build a regime change plan centered on Ahmadinejad marks an extraordinary shift in its relationship with the former Iranian president, who is known for accelerating Iran's nuclear program, repeatedly calling for the destruction of Israel, and denying the Holocaust.

According to American officials, Israel secretly paid Ahmadinejad in recent years to cover housing and travel expenses, and Israeli operatives met him abroad on several occasions, including during his trips to Budapest.

The effort reached its peak in late February of this year, during the early days of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, through a daring operation to move the former leader, who was under tight surveillance in Tehran. The goal was to launch the plan aimed at toppling the current regime and installing Ahmadinejad. But the plan failed.

On February 28, an Israeli airstrike hit Ahmadinejad's compound, targeting the building housing his bodyguards and his armored vehicle. After the strike, according to four senior Iranian officials, a black Peugeot arrived, picked up Ahmadinejad, and sped away from the chaotic scene.

American and Iranian officials familiar with the operation said the car was driven by Mossad operatives, who took Ahmadinejad to a secret safe house inside Iran.

But the former Iranian president was displeased with the frantic rescue operation and appeared disappointed with the Israeli plan to return him to power, according to people familiar with the matter.

He later left the safe house under unclear circumstances. Ahmadinejad did not appear publicly again until July 6, when he briefly participated in the funeral procession of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

His current status remains uncertain. However, four senior Iranian officials said that Ahmadinejad is being held by the intelligence arm of the Revolutionary Guard and is currently under house arrest after Iran learned many details of his communication with Israel.

Israeli officials have not publicly commented on the plan to install Ahmadinejad as Iran's leader, which was part of a broader attempt to topple the government in Tehran. Another element of the plan involved arming and training Iranian Kurdish opposition forces based in northern Iraq to cross the border into western Iran, seize territory, and eventually advance on Tehran — a plan that never materialized.

Tamir Hayman, former head of Israeli military intelligence, said in May on PBS's 'Firing Line' program, after The New York Times first revealed details of Ahmadinejad's role in the plan: 'The regime change plan included a series of very, very unique special operations that were supposed to be executed.' He added: 'And Ahmadinejad was part of that series.'

Mossad officials did not respond to requests for comment. Ali Akbar Javanfekr, Ahmadinejad's spokesman, also declined to comment.

Post-Presidency Shift

As president of Iran from 2005 to 2013, Ahmadinejad was one of the country's most hardline politicians. He called for the destruction of Israel, and under his watch, Iran resumed its uranium enrichment program, raising suspicions that it was pursuing a secret nuclear weapons program. He also ordered a violent crackdown on the nationwide uprising protesting his 2009 re-election, and his tenure saw the judiciary carry out mass executions of opponents and the imprisonment of rivals.

Ahmadinejad waves his hands upon arriving at the Presidential Election Candidate Registration Committee headquarters at the Interior Ministry in June 2024 (Archive - E.P.A.)

But in the years after leaving office, Ahmadinejad softened his positions and toned down the anti-Israel rhetoric that marked his presidency. He was eager to project a new, more moderate image, giving interviews and speeches in which he discussed Iranian pop music culture, criticized security forces for violent crackdowns, and accused the ruling class of financial corruption.

He also abandoned his trademark loose khaki jacket and began wearing tailored suits. He tidied up his unkempt beard, appeared to have undergone Botox treatment, and started learning English.

In his office in Tehran, he held hour-long public meetings every morning to listen to complaints from ordinary citizens, some of whom sought his help dealing with government bureaucracy. Occasionally, he wrote letters to ministries recommending that certain applicants be granted loans. He also traveled regularly across the country, meeting supporters in cities and rural areas.

Ahmadinejad speaks to his ally Saeed Jalili, advisor to the Iranian Supreme Leader, on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the Assembly of Experts in Tehran (Archive - ILNA)

Ahmadinejad's relationship with the Iranian government was complicated. Senior leaders marginalized him and placed restrictions on his movements, but they allowed him to sit alongside other senior officials on a high-level council that advises the Iranian Supreme Leader. He attended a meeting of that council in February, just days before the war broke out.