The New York Times (NYT) reported on the 13th (local time) that Israel has been secretly recruiting former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for several years in order to overthrow Iran's Islamic theocratic system. Former President Ahmadinejad is a hard-line conservative politician who served as President of Iran from 2005 to 2013. During his tenure, he expanded Iran's nuclear program, advocated for Israel's elimination, and even denied the Holocaust, creating a severe conflict with Israel. Although he was re-elected during the 2009 presidential election, controversy arose over election fraud, and there are also suspicions that he excessively suppressed the ‘Green Movement’, a large-scale anti-government protest sparked in the aftermath. Israel has appointed as its new leader a politician with anti-Israel and anti-democratic tendencies. According to NYT, Israel noted that former President Ahmadinejad continues to seek a return to politics despite conflict with Iran's supreme leadership after leaving office. Iran's Supreme Leader and leadership at the time, Ali Khamenei, did not want him to run for president again.