Ahmadinejad Denies Mossad Recruitment Attempt, Calls NYT Report Fabricated

Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has strongly denied a United States media report claiming that the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad, once tried to recruit him. He also refuted reports suggesting he is currently under house arrest. Ahmadinejad asserted that all these allegations are entirely fabricated. In an official statement released on Tuesday (14/7/2026), Ahmadinejad’s presidential office accused The New York Times of publishing a false report. The report was deemed to have been deliberately designed to mislead public opinion and deepen political divisions within Iran. ‘We categorically reject all the completely false allegations promoted by The New York Times,’ the official statement read, as reported by the Palestine Chronicle. Ahmadinejad’s office also denied reports regarding his house arrest status. They described the accusation as another fabrication deliberately created to reinforce the newspaper’s ‘ridiculous’ narrative. The denial emerged after The New York Times published a report on Monday claiming that Mossad had spent years trying to persuade Ahmadinejad to cooperate with Israel. According to the newspaper, Israeli intelligence viewed the former president as a potential future leader of Iran. The effort was claimed to be part of a broader strategy to encourage regime change, following the initial phase of military tensions between the US-Israel alliance and Iran.