US, Israel Reportedly Floated Installing Ex-Iranian President As New Leader

In the opening days of the Iran War, the United States and Israel were reportedly considering an unlikely choice as a potential new leader for Iran, according to The New York Times.

Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was viewed as a favorable choice to replace the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the NYT reported, citing anonymous U.S. officials. Ahmadinejad was injured when Israeli airstrikes intended to free him from house arrest failed, the outlet reported.

Ahmadinejad has been an ardent anti-U.S. critic, according to public statements that he made in the past.

He called called for “a world without America,” on Oct. 26, 2005, at a conference in Tehran titled The World without Zionism, according to a congressional resolution passed on Jan. 27, 2006.

“As the Imam said, Israel must be wiped off the map,” Ahmadinejad said in reference to statements by Iran’s revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini at the conference, Al Jazeera reported.

While Ahmadinejad was in office, his administration allowed the continued development of a nuclear program in Iran that predated his tenure, which covertly imported nuclear material and conducted over 110 experiments to produce uranium, according to the congressional resolution.

“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 proxies,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement provided to the