Israeli Spy Almost Took Over Iran
Iran has detained former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, now held by the IRGC’s intelligence wing, according to New York Times reporting of July 13, 2026, citing four Iranian officials. The reason those officials give: a failed Israeli plan to install him as Iran’s next Supreme Leader. U.S. officials describe a cultivation effort running years, not weeks — at least two meetings in Budapest (a 2024 climate conference, then June 2025), payments for Ahmadinejad’s housing and travel, and a personal meeting with the then-director of Mossad at an academic conference in Hungary. The arrest comes with successor Mojtaba Khamenei unseen in public since his March 8 elevation and U.S. strikes on Iran running for a third consecutive night.
The recruitment account rests on anonymous officials, not documents — that caveat matters. But the counterintelligence math doesn’t require every detail to hold: once Tehran believes a former president was developed by a hostile service, every senior official becomes a suspect, and a regime mid-war and mid-succession loses the one asset it cannot replace — internal trust. Blown operations still pay. The question to watch: who inside the IRGC gets purged next?
Eric Garland is an intelligence analyst personally sanctioned by the Russian Federation in May 2022 for his work on Russian intelligence operations. He is the author of the 2016 “Game Theory” thread, named by The New York Times as one of the 25 most important tweets in history.
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SOURCES
The New York Times, July 13, 2026 — former president in IRGC intelligence custody; four Iranian officials describe failed plan to install him as leader; U.S. officials describe years-long cultivation, Budapest meetings, housing and travel payments
The Times of Israel, July 13, 2026 — then-Mossad director met Ahmadinejad personally at an academic conference in Hungary
IRNA (translated), October 26, 2005 — “World Without Zionism” speech, Tehran
State funeral coverage, July 9, 2026 — successor absent from all public ceremonies since March elevation; written statements read on state television
