Former Iranian president Ahmadinejad ‘is put under house arrest by regime over secret dealings with Israel in plan to install him as new leader’ | 13 July 2026 | Former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been put under house arrest by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps after intelligence authorities uncovered his secret dealings with Israel, The New York Times has claimed. For years, Israel conducted a covert operation aimed at grooming Ahmadinejad as an intelligence asset who, when the time came, could be installed as Iran’s new leader, American and Iranian sources told the newspaper. Israel even secretly transferred money to Ahmadinejad for housing and travel, while operatives met him abroad on several occasions. The discovery of the secret relationship is shocking given that Ahmadinejad was known for accelerating Tehran’s nuclear programme, calling regularly for the destruction of Israel and denying the Holocaust.