Washington:
A regime change in Tehran was a key part of US President Donald Trump’s agenda when American and Israeli forces launched a surprise attack on Iran, killing the then-Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. In the early days of the salvo, Trump repeatedly suggested that Iran’s next leader should come “from within” the Islamic Republic.
Now it turns out that the US leader had a very particular and very surprising someone in mind for the top role: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the former Iranian president known for his hard-line, anti-Israel and anti-American views.
The audacious plan was developed by the Israelis, according to a report by The New York Times. The report implied that Ahmadinejad, who was also injured in the February 28 strikes, had been consulted about the proposal, but he quickly went awry.
ALSO READ: Iran Stages Mass Weddings For Couples Ready For War “Sacrifice”
Unusual Choice
To say that Ahmadinejad was an unusual choice for the leader of the new Iranian regime would be a vast understatement. Many who remembered Ahmadinejad’s term in office from 2005 to 2013 recall him as a Holocaust denier, an atom-bomb fanatic, and someone who shoved Islamic revolutionary ideology down the throats of a country already weary of it. As president, he was seen as a symbol of a smarmy kind of theocratic fascism, often associated with the top clergy seat. He even called to “wipe Israel off the map.”
In the 2012 movie The Dictator, Sacha Baron Cohen’s character complains, “All my friends have got nuclear weapons–even Ahmadinejad.”
“And he looks like a snitch on Miami Vice,” the character says, referring to another Hollywood classic.
The dialogue shadowed Ahmadinejad’s post-presidential career, which has been spent criticising the Iranian government. For over a decade, he has been seen more as a regime opponent, and, as a result, Iran’s Guardian Council has formally excluded him from running for president.
He was also under the Islamic regime’s surveillance. According to a report by The Atlantic, long before the war started, the Iranian government had posted bodyguards near Ahmadinejad’s home, nominally to protect a prominent citizen but also to keep tabs on him.
He is still popular in Iran, and the regime remains wary of him.
ALSO READ: 4 Republicans Side With Democrats, Stand Up Against Trump’s Iran War
Ahmadinejad Targeted In Feb Strikes
Ahmadinejad was wounded in an Israeli strike on his house on the war’s first day. Per the NYT report, the attack was designed to free him from house arrest.
He survived the strike, but American officials and an associate of Ahmadinejad said that the near miss left him disillusioned with the regime-change plan. He has not been seen publicly since then, and his current whereabouts and condition remain unknown.
Ahmadinejad’s Recruitment
How Ahmadinejad was recruited to take part in the plan remains unknown. However, the NYT reported that his recruitment was part of a multistage Israeli plan to topple Iran’s theocratic government. However, some American officials were reportedly sceptical of putting Ahmadinejad back into power.
The move underscores how Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu misjudged how quickly they could achieve their objectives, gambling heavily on the risky plan for leadership change in Tehran, which even some of Trump’s aides found implausible.
“From the outset, President Trump was clear about his goals for Operation Epic Fury: destroy Iran’s ballistic missiles, dismantle their production facilities, sink their navy, and weaken their proxy,” said Anna Kelly, a White House spokeswoman, responding to the NYT’s query about the regime change plan and Ahmadinejad.
“The United States military met or exceeded all of its objectives, and now, our negotiators are working to make a deal that would end Iran’s nuclear capabilities for good.”
Israel has yet to release a statement on the matter.
ALSO READ: Iran Warns US Of “Many More Surprises” After Trump Threatens New Strikes
Why Ahmadinejad Was Contacted
Trump had just tasted success in the US raid to capture Venezuela’s leader, Nicolas Maduro. He received willingness from his interim replacement to work with the White House — a model that he appeared to think could be replicated in Iran as well.
Ahmadinejad’s associate suggested that the United States saw him as similar to Delcy Rodriguez, who took power in Venezuela after Maduro’s ouster.
He had been a critic of the Islamic regime and would have been able to “play a very important role” in Iran in the near future, the person said.
