US and Israel planned to put former Iranian president Ahmadinejad in power after strikes: NYT report
In fact, the Times reported that Ahmadinejad, who initially survived the blast, has not been seen publicly since and that the US did not know of his current whereabouts or medical condition.
The newly released information about the US-Israeli plan to install Ahmadinejad as Iran’s new leader “was part of a multistage plan developed by Israel to topple Iran’s theocratic government,” according to the Times, and underscored how Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “went into the war not only misjudging how quickly they could achieve their objectives but also gambling to some degree on a risky plan for leadership change in Iran that even some of Mr. Trump’s aides found implausible.”
The White House did not answer the Times’ inquiry about Ahmadinejad’s role in the regime change plan, but released a statement of the United States’ directives for the war on Iran.
“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,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement. “The United States military met or exceeded all of its objectives, and now, our neighbors are working to make a deal that would end Iran’s nuclear capabilities for good.”
The plan to replace Iran’s leader came in the wake of the abduction of then-Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro nearly two months prior, on January 3, and the ease with which the US found an interim replacement that would work hand-in-hand with the White House.
That was not the case with the Iran war, however, and now there are many unanswered questions about how the US and Israel planned to put Ahmadinejad in power, including the botched air strike that injured him and tanked their mission.
