Israel’s early war plans for Iran allegedly included a dramatic regime-change effort centered around former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad despite his long history of anti-Israel and anti-American rhetoric, according to a report in The New York Times.
• U.S. officials said Ahmadinejad had been consulted about the plan and that an Israeli strike near his Tehran home during the opening days of the war was intended to free him from house arrest.
• Ahmadinejad was reportedly injured in the strike and later became disillusioned with the broader regime-change effort. His current condition and whereabouts remain unclear.
• The report says Israel envisioned a multistage strategy involving military strikes, internal instability, and political pressure designed to bring down Iran’s regime, though much of the broader plan never unfolded.
