Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was killed in Israeli airstrikes on Saturday, as per a report by Israeli outlet Ma’ariv. The 69-year-old was reportedly under house arrest at the time and died in a targeted strike on his residence. There has been no immediate confirmation of his fate from Iranian authorities.
Ahmadinejad served as Iran’s sixth president from 2005 to 2013, rising from mayor of Tehran to defeat establishment figure Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani in a surprise 2005 runoff victory. His disputed 2009 reelection sparked the mass “Green Movement” protests.
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What did Mahmoud Ahmadinejad say about Israel and President Trump?
Ahmadinejad had a sharp rhetoric toward Israel and also made objectionable comments about the Holocaust. In a 2005 speech titled “A World Without Zionism,” he quoted Iran’s founding leader, Ruhollah Khomeini, referring to Israel as “the occupying regime of Jerusalem” and a “disgraceful cancerous growth” that “must be wiped off the map.”
In 2007, speaking at Columbia University in New York, Ahmadinejad declared that there were no homosexuals in Iran.
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Ahmadinejad also tweeted about Trump in the past. “Despite the widespread propaganda by US media, Mr. Trump is a poor actor. The plots for warmongering have now been revealed.#trump#syriawar,” his post from 2017 read.
“The actions of #Trump will only shorten the life of the declining American Empire,” he further added on X, platform formerly known as Twitter.
US fatalities in Iran operation
Meanwhile, authorities confirmed that three service members were killed and five “seriously wounded” during operations against the Islamic Republic. None of the soldiers were identified.
President Donald Trump said in an earlier social media post that Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had been killed on the first day of strikes launched by Washington and regional ally Israel. Tehran confirmed the news hours later, saying the government will observe 40 days of national mourning for the 86-year-old ruler, who was killed in his office compound.
(With Bloomberg inputs)
