US officials had initially envisioned a sweeping regime-change strategy in Iran that centred on reinstating former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after strikes killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, according to a report by The New York Times.
Following Khamenei’s death, US President Donald Trump publicly suggested it would be preferable if “someone from within” Iran took over leadership, the report said.
The alleged plan, developed by Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency in consultation with Ahmadinejad, sought to position the former hardline leader at the helm despite his past rhetoric calling to “wipe Israel off the map.”
Ahmadinejad, who served as Iran’s president from 2005 to 2013 and frequently criticised the West during his tenure, had reportedly fallen out with Iran’s clerical establishment and was under house arrest in Tehran.
According to The New York Times, an Israeli strike on the opening day of the conflict targeted Ahmadinejad’s residence. While the operation allegedly aimed to free him, it nearly killed him instead. One associate described the strike as “in effect a jailbreak operation” intended to eliminate members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) assigned to guard him.
The report said Ahmadinejad survived the strike but later grew disillusioned with the wider plan. An associate quoted by the newspaper claimed Washington saw him as someone capable of managing “Iran’s political, social and military situation” and able to “play a very important role” in a future administration.
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly outlined the goals of what she described as “Operation Epic Fury,” saying, “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.”
She added that the military had achieved its objectives and that negotiators were working to end Iran’s nuclear capabilities “for good.”
The report said it remains unclear how Ahmadinejad became involved in the alleged effort. It cited a 2019 interview in which he referred to Trump as a “man of action” and a “businessman” capable of calculating “cost-benefits.”
The New York Times also noted that Ahmadinejad had recently travelled to Hungary and Guatemala, both viewed as maintaining close ties with Israel, shortly before the conflict began.
According to the report, “Operation Epic Fury” envisioned a three-stage collapse of the Iranian government. However, despite Israeli strikes reportedly killing Khamenei, the expected political upheaval did not trigger a complete regime collapse, suggesting planners may have underestimated the resilience of Iran’s institutions.
Despite the setback, Mossad Director David Barnea allegedly told associates that the plan “had a very good chance of succeeding” if events had unfolded as intended.
The newspaper added that Ahmadinejad has not appeared publicly since the strike on his home, and his current whereabouts remain unknown.
(With inputs from ANI)