Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the US and Israel’s unlikely choice to lead Iran

<p>Populist former president’s falling-out with the Tehran regime allegedly drew him into a takeover plot</p><ul><li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/20/us-and-israel-hoped-to-install-ahmadinejad-as-irans-leader">US and Israel hoped to install Ahmadinejad as Iran’s leader</a></p></li></ul><p></p><p>For all their outward differences, there always seemed to be things that linked Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Donald Trump.</p><p>A visit to the then Iranian president’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/jan/28/iran.roberttait">rather humble Tehran neighbourhood</a> nearly 20 years ago highlighted cost of living problems that prefigured those facing Trump now.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/20/mahmoud-ahmadinejad-the-us-and-israels-unlikely-choice-to-lead-iran">Continue reading...</a>