US‑Israel Plot to Install Ahmadinejad Crumbles After Israeli Strike Injures Him

Context The United States and Israel launched a coordinated war against Iran with the explicit goal of reshaping Tehran’s political hierarchy. According to multiple briefings, the plan centered on reinstating Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the hard‑line president who ruled from 2005 to 2013, as a puppet figurehead. The strategy mirrored the 2019 U.S. operation that removed Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro and installed an interim leader.

Key Facts - Ahmadinejad, once a vocal opponent of Israel and a staunch supporter of Iran’s nuclear program, had publicly praised President Donald Trump in a 2019 interview, calling him “a man of action” capable of cost‑benefit analysis and urging long‑term U.S.–Iran cooperation. - On day one of the conflict, Israeli forces bombed Ahmadinejad’s Tehran residence. The strike was intended to free him from house arrest, effectively a “jailbreak” operation, but it left him wounded. - American officials reported that Ahmadinejad survived the attack but vanished afterward. His whereabouts and health remain unknown, and he reportedly withdrew from the regime‑change plan. - The New York Times cited U.S. officials who said the “audacious plan” quickly went awry after the strike, noting that Ahmadinejad’s injuries and subsequent disillusionment halted the effort. - Ahmadinejad’s past clashes with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, his disqualification from later presidential races, and the arrest of his aides had already limited his political mobility before the war.

What It Means The failure of the U.S.–Israel plot underscores the difficulty of engineering leadership change in a tightly controlled regime. The incident also reveals the high stakes of direct military action aimed at political manipulation; a single miscalculation can derail an entire strategy. With Ahmadinejad out of the picture, Washington and Jerusalem must reassess their objectives in Iran, likely shifting toward diplomatic pressure or covert influence rather than overt regime replacement. The next development to watch is whether the United States will pursue alternative Iranian partners or scale back its involvement altogether.