SECRET U.S.-Israel Plot: Guess Who’s Coming Back?!

Two political leaders seated with flags in the background

A bombshell New York Times report claims the United States and Israel secretly developed a plan early in the Iran war to reinstall former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the country’s leader — and allegedly discussed the scheme with Ahmadinejad himself.

Story Snapshot

The New York Times reported that Israel developed a regime-change plan after Iran’s top leaders were killed, with U.S. intelligence officials later joining the effort.
Ahmadinejad was reportedly identified as the preferred candidate, and the plan was allegedly discussed directly with him.
An Israeli strike on Ahmadinejad’s Tehran home on the first day of the war was reportedly intended to free him from house arrest, not kill him.
Ahmadinejad has not been seen publicly since the strike, and his condition and whereabouts remain unknown.

The Reported Plan: Israel, U.S., and a Surprising Choice

According to multiple outlets summarizing the New York Times report, Israel developed a multi-phase war strategy that included identifying a replacement leader for Iran following the deaths of the country’s top officials. U.S. intelligence officials were later briefed on the plan and joined the effort. The surprising candidate that emerged was Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — the former Iranian president known for his fiery anti-Western rhetoric — reportedly chosen as a pragmatist who could stabilize a post-war Iran. ^[1]^[2]

The plan went further than backroom brainstorming. Reports indicate the scheme was discussed with Ahmadinejad himself, suggesting the operation had moved beyond mere concept into active engagement with the proposed candidate. A source close to Ahmadinejad later confirmed to the Times that Ahmadinejad viewed an Israeli airstrike on his Tehran home as an attempt to free him — not harm him. ^[1]^[4] President Trump’s public comments following Supreme Leader Khamenei’s death, in which he said it would be preferable if “someone from within” Iran assumed leadership, appeared to align with the reported strategy. ^[3]

On the first day of the Iran War, the Israeli Air Force carried out a strike on the Tehran home of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the former president of Iran known for his hard-line, anti-Israel and anti-American views, which was designed to free him from house arrest and place him in a… pic.twitter.com/rGp70GFAUu

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) May 20, 2026

The Strike Meant to Liberate, Not Destroy

On the first day of the war, Israel struck a residence associated with Ahmadinejad in Tehran. U.S. officials briefed on the plan told the Times the strike was intended to kill the guards holding him under house arrest and free him — not to eliminate him as a target. The Atlantic had independently reported roughly two months earlier, citing Ahmadinejad associates, that the strike functioned effectively as a liberation operation rather than a conventional military hit. ^[4]

Since the strike, Ahmadinejad has made no public appearances. His condition and whereabouts remain unknown, leaving open the question of whether the operation succeeded in freeing him, wounded him, or produced an entirely different outcome. The Jerusalem Post, Ynet, and Yeshiva World all note that no confirmed information on his status has emerged. ^[1]^[2]^[4] That silence, in the context of the reported plan, speaks volumes — though it does not definitively confirm or deny what actually happened on the ground.

Important Caveats: A Plan or a Dream?

The reporting carries significant evidentiary limitations that deserve honest acknowledgment. No primary-source documents — no operational orders, target packages, or signed memoranda — have been made public to confirm the plan moved from concept to execution. Analysts who reviewed the broader reporting described the scheme as “not deeply developed” and called it “a very far-fetched dream” and “a very tall order.” ^[3] The entire public record rests on journalistic summaries of the New York Times report rather than independently verified primary sources. ^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

The anonymous sourcing — “U.S. officials briefed on the plan” and unnamed associates close to Ahmadinejad — is a real vulnerability. National-security reporting of this kind is notoriously difficult to verify in real time, and officials with competing agendas have strong incentives to shape narratives through selective leaks. ^[1]^[4] Whether this was a serious operational plan or an ambitious contingency that never matured into a real mission remains genuinely unresolved. What is clear is that the Trump administration and Israeli leadership were actively thinking about Iran’s post-war political structure — and that Ahmadinejad, of all people, reportedly entered that conversation. ^[2]^[3]