According to Iran Focus, a photo has turned up linking newly-elected President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, with the taking of American hostages during the U. S. Embassy siege in 1979.

The article goes on to state that:

“Ahmadinejad was a founder of the group of young activists who swarmed over the embassy wall and held the diplomats and embassy workers hostage for 444 days.”

As I noted in a previous post , the election of Mr. Ahmadinejad does not bode well for Iranian-American relations.

President Ahmadinejad went on to say:

During his first press conference as President-elect last week, Mr Ahmadinejad struck a moderate note. But today, at a memorial service for families killed in a 1981 attack on the headquarters of the Islamic Republic Party, he said he hoped his election victory would spark a new global Islamic revolution.

“Thanks to the blood of the martyrs, a new Islamic revolution has arisen and the Islamic revolution of 1384 (the current Iranian year) will, if God wills, cut off the roots of injustice in the world,” the official IRNA agency quoted Mr Ahmadinejad as saying.

“The era of oppression, hegemonic regimes, tyranny and injustice has reached its end. The wave of the Islamic revolution will soon reach the entire world. In one night, the martyrs strode down a path of 100 years.”

I am surprised that we haven’t had any news of incarceration or suppression of reformists yet. It’s that “new” Islamic revolution that is going to reach the entire world that we have been dealing with, and will continue to have to deal with.

Update: It turns out that the picture may not be Ahmadinejad.