A report by the American newspaper The New York Times revealed details of Israel's efforts to 'recruit' former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in the face of Tehran's attempts to counter these efforts, including placing the former president under house arrest after the disclosure of his contacts with the Mossad.

The newspaper reported, based on an extensive investigation involving four Iranian sources, that Israel ran a secret operation over years aimed at recruiting Ahmadinejad as an 'intelligence asset,' with plans at a later stage to install him as Iran's leader in the event of the overthrow of the current regime.

According to the report, the operation included a step in early 2024, when a Hungarian government official asked Gergely Deli, a university president in Budapest, to invite Ahmadinejad to a conference on climate change.

The newspaper quoted Deli as saying that the conference was a cover for secret talks between Ahmadinejad and Israeli intelligence officials, and Deli added that he agreed to send the invitation out of a desire to facilitate dialogue between the two sides.

In the same context, the newspaper quoted former American officials as saying that the head of the Israel Security Agency, David Barnea, personally traveled to Budapest to meet Ahmadinejad.

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Financial payments and field operations

The newspaper indicated that Israel made secret payments to Ali Akbar Javanfekr, Ahmadinejad's spokesman, and that Israeli agents met him several times before launching an operation codenamed 'The Mighty Lion.'

The report added that Ahmadinejad's residential compound was subjected to an Israeli airstrike last February targeting his guards and armored vehicle, before Mossad agents moved him to a secret hideout.

Ahmadinejad remained out of sight until his later appearance at the funeral of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei days ago.

The newspaper adds that 'after that, the intelligence wing of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard detained the former president and placed him under house arrest,' according to Iranian officials.

Sources close to Ahmadinejad indicated that his motivations were not financial.

The New York Times quoted his former advisor Abdolreza Davari as saying in a telephone interview: 'He has money and a vast economic network. He did it for power and his desire to return to the helm of rule.'

Another close source said that Ahmadinejad was seeking to return to power 'with the help of external forces,' noting that he had lost confidence in the Iranian system after being excluded three times from the presidential race.

The source stated that the former president expressed in private gatherings his dissatisfaction with the regime's leaders, including Khamenei, asserting that he intended to normalize relations with Israel if he returned to power.