TEHRAN — Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is alive and unharmed after reported U.S.-Israeli strikes targeted senior Iranian leadership and military infrastructure, a close aide told Anadolu on Sunday.
“I am in touch with him. All is good,” said the adviser, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
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The aide said a building associated with Ahmadinejad’s security detail was struck Saturday, killing three of his bodyguards — all members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Ahmadinejad’s residence, located about 100 meters from the site, “remained unaffected and was not targeted,” the adviser added.
Ahmadinejad, who served as Iran’s president from 2005 to 2013, had earlier been reported killed in an Israeli-U.S. airstrike. The aide’s account directly contradicts those reports.
Details about the wider strikes remained limited Sunday, but the adviser framed the attack on the security-related building as part of a broader operation aimed at Iran’s senior leadership and military infrastructure. He provided no additional information about the broader scope of the strikes or other potential casualties.
The comments mark the first on-the-record confirmation from someone in Ahmadinejad’s circle that the former president was not harmed. The aide emphasized that contact with Ahmadinejad had been maintained throughout and that the former leader’s immediate residence did not come under fire.
Ahmadinejad, a hard-line figure who rose to national prominence ahead of his 2005 election, has remained a polarizing presence in Iran’s political landscape since leaving office in 2013. His security detail has continued to operate under the IRGC, the elite force charged with safeguarding Iran’s political system and strategic assets.
In the absence of formal statements from Iranian authorities regarding the incident at Ahmadinejad’s security site, the aide’s account provides the most specific details to date: a targeted strike on a building tied to his protection unit; three IRGC bodyguards killed; and the former president’s home left intact nearby.
It was not immediately clear whether the strike that killed the bodyguards was part of a coordinated sequence of operations or an isolated hit within a larger campaign. The aide did not specify whether additional measures had been taken to relocate Ahmadinejad following the incident.
As of Sunday, the adviser reiterated that Ahmadinejad remained safe and that no further threats to his residence were evident. He declined to offer further comment about security precautions now in place around the former president.
By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
