Inside Israel’s Secret Operation to Install Ahmadinejad, Iran’s Former President, as Leader

© Todd Heisler/The New York Times

© Todd Heisler/The New York Times
Former Iranian president has a populist, headline-grabbing communication style but is an avowed anti-Zionist. How could Israel see him as a man to do business with?
For all their outward differences, there always seemed to be things that linked Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Donald Trump.
A visit to the then Iranian president’s rather humble Tehran neighbourhood nearly 20 years ago highlighted cost of living problems that prefigured those facing Trump now.
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© Composite: Reuters

© Composite: Reuters

© Composite: Reuters
Airstrike at the start of the war was aimed at freeing populist ex-president from house arrest, US newspaper claims
Fresh questions have been raised over the US and Israeli effort to depose the Iranian regime after it was claimed that Israel wanted to put the populist Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in power.
Ahmadinejad’s turbulent presidency, from 2005 to 2013, was marked by incendiary attacks on Israel but he recast himself as a critic of the regime and champion of the poor after falling out with the supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
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© Photograph: Majid Asgaripour/Reuters

© Photograph: Majid Asgaripour/Reuters

© Photograph: Majid Asgaripour/Reuters

© Arash Khamooshi/Polaris for The New York Times

© Arash Khamooshi for The New York Times