Reports indicate that during the early days of the Iran war, following Israeli strikes that killed Iran’s supreme leader and senior officials, US President Donald Trump publicly suggested that someone from within Iran should take charge. It has now emerged that both the United States and Israel had considered former hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for that role. According to American officials, Israeli planners even consulted Ahmadinejad about the idea, but the plan quickly collapsed.

Ahmadinejad was injured in an Israeli airstrike on his Tehran home on the war’s first day, an attack reportedly aimed at freeing him from house arrest. After surviving, he became disillusioned with the regime-change plan and has not been seen publicly since. The plan was part of a broader Israeli effort to topple Iran’s religious government through targeted strikes and internal unrest, though most of it failed to materialize.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly declined to comment directly on the plan but said Trump’s “Operation Epic Fury” achieved its military goals, including destroying Iran’s missile and naval capabilities.