How Israel's Mossad tried to recruit Iran's former president Ahmadinejad

Israel's intelligence agency Mossad allegedly spent years trying to recruit former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as part of a broader plan to overthrow Iran's leadership and eventually install him as the country's new leader.The New York Times report, citing American and Iranian officials familiar with the operation, claimed the effort included secret meetings in Hungary, financial support, and an attempted extraction of Ahmadinejad from Tehran during the opening days of the US-Israeli military op against Iran earlier this year. The plan, however, ultimately failed.The operation reportedly began taking shape in 2024 when Hungary's Ludovika University of Public Service was asked by senior government officials to invite Ahmadinejad to a climate change conference in Budapest.The conference was allegedly intended to serve as a cover for secret meetings between Ahmadinejad and Israeli intelligence operatives.