Report: Former Iranian President Ahmadinejad Under House Arrest Over Alleged Mossad Links

Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was allegedly targeted by Israel for recruitment as an intelligence asset and a potential future leader of Iran, leading to his current house arrest by Iranian authorities, Amit Avitan and Tzvi Jasper reported for the Jerusalem Post.

Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is reportedly under house arrest following allegations involving Israeli intelligence. (Marcello Casal, Jr., Agência Brasil)

According to the report, Israel conducted a years-long covert operation aimed at recruiting Ahmadinejad as an intelligence asset and even considered installing him as a future leader of Iran.

The New York Times reported Monday, citing four senior Iranian officials, that one phase of the operation occurred in early 2024, when a senior Hungarian government official asked Gergely Deli, rector of Ludovika University of Public Service in Budapest, to invite Ahmadinejad to a climate change conference.

Deli said he was informed that the conference would serve as cover for secret talks between Ahmadinejad and Israeli intelligence officials.

Despite concerns about potential damage to his reputation and that of the university, he agreed because he believed that "if you have two enemies, and if these enemies want to talk with each other, then it's best to do what you can to make them talk."

Former U.S. officials also told the newspaper that former Mossad Director David Barnea personally traveled to Budapest to meet Ahmadinejad.