NYT: US, Israel Plotted Iran Regime Change, Planned to Install Hardline Ex-President

Key News on the US-Iran War Central Message (CNA, Washington, 20th, Comprehensive Foreign Report) The New York Times has reported that during the early stages of a war with Iran, the United States and Israel intended to push for a regime change, planning to install the hardline former Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. According to The New York Times, a few days after an initial Israeli airstrike in the war killed Iran's supreme leader and other high-ranking officials, U.S. President Trump publicly stated that it would be best for "someone from within" Iran to take over the country. It is understood that at the beginning of the conflict, the U.S. and Israel had targeted a very unexpected specific individual: former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a hardliner known for his anti-American and anti-Israeli stance. According to informed U.S. officials, the audacious plan to install Ahmadinejad was devised by Israel and had been discussed with Ahmadinejad, but the plan quickly went wrong. U.S. officials and a close associate of Ahmadinejad indicated that on the first day of the war, Israel conducted an airstrike on Ahmadinejad's residence in Tehran, aiming to free him from house arrest. However, he was injured in the strike. These sources claim that Ahmadinejad survived the airstrike but became disillusioned with the regime change plan after the near-death experience. Since then, he has not appeared in public, and his current whereabouts and condition are unknown. (Compiler: Chen Jeng-chien) 1150521