The New York Times reported on May 20, 2026, that the United States and Israel had a bold plan to replace Iran's leadership with former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad immediately after launching a war against Tehran.
According to unnamed US officials, the plan quickly "went off track," and Ahmadinejad's "whereabouts and condition" are now unknown.
Following the assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, President Donald Trump expressed the view that it would be best to let "someone from within" Iran govern the country.
The plan was described as "highly unusual" because Ahmadinejad is a hardliner: during his presidency from 2005 to 2013, he called for "wiping Israel off the map," strongly supported Iran's nuclear program, sharply criticized the US, and brutally suppressed domestic opposition.
However, in a 2019 interview, Ahmadinejad praised President Trump, calling him a "man of action" capable of "cost-benefit analysis" in decision-making, and called for reconciliation between Iran and the US.
The Times quoted US officials as saying Trump was exhilarated after the successful special forces operation to kidnap Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and the cooperation of interim replacement Delcy Rodriguez with the White House. He believed a similar model could be applied to Iran.
On the first day of the war, Ahmadinejad was wounded in an Israeli airstrike on his home in Tehran. According to US officials, the attack was actually intended to free him from house arrest. Though he survived, Ahmadinejad changed his mind about the regime-change plan and has since been unreachable.
The Atlantic previously called the attack a "prison break operation," citing unnamed associates of Ahmadinejad. The Times confirmed from one of his associates that Ahmadinejad himself recognized the airstrike as an attempt to free him. The associate said the US believed he could lead the country and control Iran's political, social, and military situation.
However, after escaping house arrest despite being wounded, Ahmadinejad gradually lost faith in the plan and stopped cooperating.
Earlier, Ahmadinejad had repeatedly clashed with Supreme Leader Khamenei, was barred from several presidential elections, saw his assistants arrested, and was placed under house arrest. Some of his close associates were accused of being too close to the West, even spying for Israel.
