U.S. officials cited by Business Standard and The New York Times say an Israeli strike in Tehran was intended to support regime change in Iran. The reports state that the strike was designed to help free Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from house arrest. According to these officials, the plan extended beyond releasing him: they say it aimed to install a hard-line former president as Iran’s leader. Both outlets describe the effort as part of a broader attempt to alter Iran’s political leadership, framing Ahmadinejad’s release as a step toward putting him in power. The reporting is based on U.S. officials’ accounts of the strike’s purpose, without presenting independent confirmation from Israel or Iran in the provided excerpts. The two sources align on the central claims: the Israeli action involved Tehran, targeted or related to Ahmadinejad’s confinement, and was linked to an attempt to engineer regime change by elevating a hard-line figure. The outlets differ only in the placement and phrasing of their titles, with no additional material differences reflected in the provided text.