When US President Donald Trump said during the early period of the war with Iran that he would prefer someone from within the country to take over after regime change in Tehran, many names floated as possibilities, including parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.
But according to a report by the New York Times, the early US-Israeli plan was to install Iran’s hardline former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the country’s new leader, a truly surprising name given his anti-Israel and anti-US stance in the past.
The report said that Ahmadinejad was even consulted before the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28, killing its then Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Even Ahmadinejad’s home was struck on the first day, with early rumours suggesting that the leader who was Iran’s President from 2005 to 2013 had been killed. It was later revealed that Ahmadinejad had survived the strike. But that upended the US-Israeli plan regarding him.
The NYT report said that the Israeli strike was to free Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has been under house arrest in recent times. But after the strike, he became disillusioned with the plan.
Why did the US view Mahmoud Ahmadinejad favourably?
Known for his frequent calls to “wipe Israel off the map” during his presidency from 2005-13, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had become critical of the Iranian rulers, accusing them of corruption.
He has been placed under house arrest for the past few years, and the Iranian rulers had even disqualified him from subsequent presidential elections.
That American and Israeli officials saw Ahmadinejad as a potential leader of a new government in Iran is further evidence that the war in February was launched with the hopes of installing more pliable leadership in Tehran, the NYT report said.
An associate of Ahmadinejad confirmed to The New York Times that the former Iranian President saw the strike at his residence as an attempt to free him.
The associate said the Americans viewed Ahmadinejad as someone who could lead Iran, and had the capability to manage “Iran’s political, social and military situation,” the NYT reported.
Ahmadinejad would have been able to “play a very important role” in Iran in the near future, the associate said, suggesting that the United States saw him as similar to Delcy Rodriguez, who took power in Venezuela after American forces seized Nicolas Maduro and has since worked closely with the Trump administration ever since Maduro’s ouster.
