Former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s office rejected allegations that Israel’s Mossad recruited him for an effort to change Iran’s leadership, calling the account a fabrication and denying reports that he had been placed under house arrest.
The denial, reported on July 13, 2026, responded to claims attributed to an investigation by The New York Times. Ahmadinejad’s office characterized those claims as “Hollywood-style” and said they did not warrant a denial. It also attacked the newspaper’s credibility and alleged that it published fabricated material for payment. The office said Ahmadinejad remained active and continued his daily work.
The disputed account, summarized separately by The Jerusalem Post, alleged that Israel spent years cultivating Ahmadinejad as an intelligence asset and later considered installing him as Iran’s leader after an attempt to overthrow the government. The newspaper said the underlying report cited four senior Iranian officials for the claim that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ intelligence arm had taken Ahmadinejad into custody after discovering substantial contacts with Israel.
Alleged meetings and payments
According to The Jerusalem Post’s account of the investigation, a proposed climate-change conference in Budapest became part of an alleged plan to arrange secret talks in early 2024. Gergely Deli, rector of the Ludovika University of Public Service, reportedly said a senior Hungarian government official asked him to invite Ahmadinejad. Deli said he accepted despite concerns about possible reputational damage because he supported facilitating dialogue between enemies.
Former American officials cited in the account alleged that then-Mossad chief David Barnea traveled to Budapest to meet Ahmadinejad. The report also claimed that Israel later made secret payments to Ahmadinejad spokesman Ali Akbar Javanfekr and that Israeli agents met him several times. Mossad officials and Javanfekr declined to comment to The New York Times, according to The Jerusalem Post.
The account further alleged that an Israeli airstrike hit Ahmadinejad’s home compound in February, targeting his bodyguards and armored vehicle, and that Mossad operatives subsequently moved him to a safe house. It said he later left for unexplained reasons and reappeared at former supreme leader Ali Khamenei’s funeral before being placed under house arrest. Ahmadinejad’s office directly disputed the arrest claim.
Abdolreza Davari, identified as a former adviser and associate, told The New York Times that Ahmadinejad would not have cooperated for money but might have acted in pursuit of power. Another unnamed associate alleged that Ahmadinejad had discussed regaining leadership with foreign assistance and normalizing relations with Israel through the Abraham Accords.
Ahmadinejad served as Iran’s president from 2005 to 2013. After leaving office, he was repeatedly barred from presidential contests and became critical of Iran’s political establishment, accusing senior figures of corruption, mismanagement and neglecting the public. Those established political tensions provide context for the allegations but do not resolve the central dispute: an expansive account of covert Israeli contact stands against an unequivocal denial from Ahmadinejad’s office.
