A US newspaper has reported claims that Israel's airstrikes at the beginning of the current conflict were intended to help free Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from house arrest, raising questions about US and Israeli strategy toward Iran's government. Ahmadinejad, who served as president from 2005 to 2013 and has since become a critic of the regime under Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, has positioned himself as a champion of Iran's poor.