Reports is reporting from the 2024 Budapest climate meeting, which the New York Times has reported was a cover for secret meetings between former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and then-Mossad chief Dedi Barnea.
The Zioneer is now reporting from the 2024 Budapest climate conference venue, which the New York Times revealed earlier today served as a cover for secret meetings between former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and then-Mossad chief Dedi Barnea. This is the first on-the-ground reporting from the location, hours after the NYT story broke. The Zioneer's team is at the conference site, providing additional context as the story continues to develop.
The New York Times published its initial report at 13:40 Jerusalem time today, detailing that the Mossad had been cultivating Ahmadinejad for years, including cash payments and a 2024 meeting in Budapest with then-Mossad chief Barnea. Subsequent versions of the same story added that contacts began in 2023, that the Mossad informed the CIA, and that a failed rescue attempt occurred on the opening day of Operation Roaring Lion, leaving Ahmadinejad under house arrest by the IRGC's intelligence wing. The story has been corroborated by multiple NYT reporters and cited by Israeli outlets such as N12.
The Zioneer has been covering the NYT revelations since they first emerged, reporting on the secret meetings, the failed extraction, and the house arrest. The broader context, as previously reported by The Zioneer, is that the Mossad operation aimed to position Ahmadinejad as a potential leader of post-Islamic Republic Iran, a plan that collapsed after the rescue attempt failed.
It remains unclear whether the meetings at the Budapest conference actually occurred as described. The NYT report is based on unnamed Iranian and American officials, and no independent confirmation has been provided. The Zioneer's reporting from the venue aims to assess the physical setting of the alleged meetings, but does not independently verify the substance of the NYT account.
6 developments
- DevelopingAhmadinejad met Mossad chief under alleged Israeli plan, now under arrest — report
- DevelopingNYT: Mossad Groomed Ahmadinejad as Post-Regime Leader, Smuggled Him Out of Tehran
- StrongNYT: Israel paid former Iranian president Ahmadinejad, attempted rescue on Operation Roaring Lion opening day
- DevelopingReport: Mossad agents extracted Ahmadinejad after Israeli strike on his compound on Feb. 28
Source and signal
- Internal intake