This week claims have emerged in the United States that the Iranian President–elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was once part of the student movement that took over the US embassy in Tehran, taking at least 52 staff hostage.
Six of the former US hostages, including army Colonel Chuck Scott, argue that after seeing the president-elect in photos or on television they believed Ahmadinejad was among the hostage-takers. One former hostage has even argued that he was interrogated by Mr. Ahmadinejad, reports the BBC.
“This is the guy,” retired army colonel Chuck Scott told the Associated Press.
“There’s no question about it. You could make him a blond and shave his whiskers, put him in a zoot suit and I’d still spot him.”
CNN has reported the White House was looking into the photographs and had not reached any conclusions. “They are allegations at the present time,” a White House spokesperson said. “We need to get the facts.”
However, the president-elect, his staff and three of the actual hostage takers have all refuted these allegations. All of them have stated categorically that Mr. Ahmadinejad was not a member of the student group which seized the embassy and its staff for the 444-day hostage crisis, which led to a complete breakdown in Iran-US relations.
The hostage crisis occurred in 1979 just weeks after the Iranian Revolution overthrew the American-backed regime of the Shah of Iran. The new leader of Iran, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, urged students to protest against the 32-year American dominance in Iran. On November 4, 500 students stormed the US embassy’s grounds and seized the staff, resulting in a siege that lasted over a year.
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