If you enjoy great spy movies and even better true stories about the world of the real 007s, stay with me until we reach the final paragraph. You won't regret it.
Ashraf Marwan seemed like the least likely person to become one of Israel's most valuable agents. He was Egyptian, married to Mona Nasser, the daughter of President Gamal Abdel Nasser, and had privileged access to the heart of power in Cairo. After Nasser's death, he also became a significant collaborator of President Anwar el-Sadat.
However, in 1970, Marwan contacted the Israeli embassy in London and offered information to the Mossad. Under the codename "The Angel," he provided Israel with military plans, data on Egyptian armaments, and details of Sadat's conversations with Soviet leaders. Shortly before the Yom Kippur War in 1973, he warned that Egypt and Syria were preparing an attack. Israel received the alert, but its military commanders did not react with the urgency that was needed.
The true loyalty of Marwan continues to be a topic of discussion. For former Israeli officials, he was one of the best agents in the history of the Mossad. For many Egyptians, he was actually a double agent who deceived Israel and contributed to the initial success of the 1973 offensive. He died under mysterious circumstances in London in 2007, falling from the balcony of his residence. Egypt bid him farewell with honors as a national hero.
More than half a century later, a new and extraordinary espionage story poses an inevitable question: Is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad becoming the new "Angel" of the Mossad?
The comparison seems absurd at first glance. Ahmadinejad was the president of Iran from 2005 to 2013 and one of the most aggressively anti-Israeli leaders of the Islamic Republic. He denied the Holocaust, defended Iran's nuclear program, and employed a rhetoric that for years turned Israel into the main external enemy of his government.
But investigations attributed to The New York Times and the Israeli newspaper Haaretz assert that the Mossad attempted for several years to approach the former Iranian president and turn him into an asset of extraordinary political value. The ultimate goal would have been to use him as a leader in a post-theocratic regime Iran.
According to these reports, Israeli services observed that Ahmadinejad progressively distanced himself from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and important sectors of the governing structure. After leaving the presidency, he attempted to return to power, but the Guardian Council repeatedly blocked his candidacy. He also began to criticize certain repressive actions of the regime and to project a more moderate political image.
The Mossad is said to have taken advantage of that distancing. Investigations indicate that Israeli agents held meetings with Ahmadinejad during trips abroad. At that time, the director of the Mossad, David Barnea, reportedly traveled personally to Budapest to meet with him, while Israeli officials allegedly financed part of his travel and accommodation.
The project was as ambitious as it was risky. It was not just about obtaining information on the internal workings of Iranian power. Ahmadinejad would have been seen as a potential transitional figure because he knew the regime from the inside, retained some popularity among poor and nationalist sectors, and could present himself as an Iranian alternative, not as a ruler imposed directly from abroad.
According to Haaretz, the plan was part of an Israeli operation called "Puss in Boots." The initiative caused disagreements within Israel's own security apparatus. Some officials considered it a dangerous fantasy, while others believed that Ahmadinejad could contribute to the downfall of the Islamic Republic.
The story took on characteristics of a spy novel after the attacks against Iran that began on February 28. According to published reports, Mossad agents extracted Ahmadinejad from his residence and moved him to a secret house in Tehran. The former president is said to have left the safe house under circumstances that are still unclear.
Four high-ranking Iranian officials quoted by The New York Times stated that Ahmadinejad ended up in the custody of the intelligence division of the Revolutionary Guard and may have been placed under house arrest. The Guardian and The Jerusalem Post reported the main details of the investigation, although they emphasized that there is no public confirmation from the Iranian government nor any known judicial order.
Ahmadinejad's office categorically denied any contacts with Mossad and described the accusations as false. This denial necessitates a cautious approach: so far, no documents, recordings, or material evidence have been published that demonstrate the former president consciously agreed to work for Israel.
It is also important to distinguish between being contacted by an intelligence service, having conversations with its agents, and truly becoming a spy.
Ashraf Marwan provided secret information for years and received the code name "The Angel." In the case of Ahmadinejad, the information available comes primarily from anonymous Iranian, American, and Israeli sources.
Even so, the story is devastating for the Islamic Republic. The man who made the confrontation with Israel a political banner could have ended up negotiating with the very intelligence service he had portrayed for years as a mortal enemy.
Ahmadinejad cannot yet be rigorously labeled the new "Angel" of the Mossad. However, if the investigations are confirmed, the former Iranian president may have been involved in one of the most surprising political transformations and intelligence operations in contemporary history: from a symbol of anti-Israeli radicalism to a possible agent of Israel, working from within to dismantle the fundamentalist regime he once led.
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Opinion article: Las declaraciones y opiniones expresadas en este artículo son de exclusiva responsabilidad de su autor y no representan necesariamente el punto de vista de CiberCuba.