Israel’s ex-Mossad spy chief met Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to groom him as Iran’s new leader
LONDON: The former president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, met former Mossad spy chief David Barnea in Budapest, Hungary, in 2024 and 2025 as Israel attempted to groom the hardline politician to become the new Iranian leader in the event of regime change in Tehran.
The plan failed, the New York Times reported on Monday. Ahmadinejad remains in Iran and was last seen flanked by security guards during the funeral procession for the former supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, last week.
Ahmadinejad served as Iran’s president from 2005 to 2013. He was known for his statements calling for the destruction of Israel, and during his term Tehran resumed its uranium-enrichment program.
He reportedly met Mossad operatives in 2024 and 2025, before Israel and the US launched their war against Iran in February this year, a conflict that spread to other countries in the Middle East as Tehran responded by launching attacks against 10 allies of the US and blocked international shipping, including oil deliveries, in the Strait of Hormuz.
