Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the former president of Iran known for his hardline stance and controversial rhetoric against Israel, has reportedly been killed during Israeli airstrikes at the start of military operations within Iran.
The Israeli news outlet Ma’ariv reported that Ahmadinejad, who was under house arrest, died in a targeted attack on his home.
Iranian officials have yet to confirm this development.
Ahmadinejad served as Iran’s sixth president from 2005 until 2013, ascending from the role of Tehran’s mayor to unexpectedly defeat prominent politician Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani in the 2005 election runoff.
His contentious 2009 reelection sparked the widespread “Green Movement” protests, which were met with severe crackdowns by security forces, marking one of the Islamic Republic’s most significant internal challenges.
Both domestic and international critics viewed him as a confrontational leader whose policies exacerbated inflation and whose aggressive rhetoric further isolated Iran on the global stage.
During his tenure, the United Nations Security Council imposed multiple rounds of sanctions over Iran’s nuclear program, intensifying Tehran’s economic isolation.
Ahmadinejad became especially notorious in the West for his rhetoric toward Israel and his comments about the Holocaust.
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In 2006, his government hosted a conference in Tehran widely condemned as a platform for Holocaust denial, drawing international outrage.
During a 2005 conference titled “A World Without Zionism,” he quoted Iran’s founding leader, Ruhollah Khomeini, who had referred to Israel as “the occupying regime of Jerusalem” and a “disgraceful cancerous growth” that “must be wiped off the map.”
His defenders later argued that translations of his remarks were disputed, while critics said the intent was unmistakably hostile.
His political base was closely aligned with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Basij militia, which played key roles in consolidating his power and suppressing dissent.
In 2007, speaking at Columbia University in New York, Ahmadinejad declared that there were no homosexuals in Iran, prompting laughter from the audience and widespread ridicule.
His presidency was also marked by an unusual emphasis on Shiite messianic belief in the return of the Hidden Imam, which critics said blurred the line between theology and statecraft.
Internationally, he forged a high-profile alliance with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, framing their partnership as a united front against U.S. influence.
At home, his sweeping Mehr housing initiative and subsidy reforms were later blamed by critics for worsening inflation and economic mismanagement.
In his later years, he clashed openly with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and was repeatedly barred from running for president again, signaling his marginalization within the ruling establishment.
Khamenei was killed in Saturday morning’s opening wave of coordinated US-Israeli strikes on Tehran that obliterated Iran’s “Leadership House” compound, with confirmation later emerging via Iranian state-aligned announcements and major-wire reporting.
