Ever since he took office, there’s been speculation that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was involved in the 1979 seizure of the American embassy in Tehran. Now, it appears the Russian newspaper Kommersant has stumbled upon more evidence to back up the rumors.

The photographs in the archives of the AP and the AFP helped to narrow down the location of the action captured on one of the rolls of film to alongside the walls of the American embassy in Tehran when it was being seized by radical Iranian students on November 4, 1979. Evil rumor has long maintained that units from the Iranian special forces played a leading role in the storming of the embassy and that the students were just pawns used to paint the operation as unofficial. Whatever the case may be, we talked to people who served in Tehran and know the city well, and they said that the Soviet photographer appears to have walked along the southern wall of the American embassy from west to east before turning around and retracing his steps, apparently returning to the Soviet embassy.

All that remained was the carefully scrutinize the film. The majority of the pictures were an original report on a street demonstration in honor of the seizure of the “den of the enemy.” But among the many photographs filled with crowds of people, one stood out. Taken from a respectable distance and from behind a barrier, it shows a young man with an automatic submachine gun – presumably one of the participants in the storming of the embassy. Not just anyone from the crowd, however: his submachine gun has a factory casing, as opposed to the more common wood-paneled submachine guns brandished by the students in the other pictures. The young man is standing, leaning tiredly against the wall of the embassy. And when the picture is enlarged, his face comes to closely resemble that of current Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Looks like we have a winner.

According to Kommersant:

Five former American hostages confirmed that Ahmadinejad as one of their captors. William J. Daugherty, a former intelligence officer, said he saw Ahmadinejad 8 to 10 times at the start of his captivity: “I recognized him right off. … I remember so much his hatred of Americans. It just emanated from every pore of his body.”

BBC correspondent John Simpson recalled seeing Ahmadinejad on the embassy grounds. Abholhassan Bani-Sadr, a former president of Iran long living in exile, asserted that Ahmadinejad “was among those inside the Embassy.”

American Embassies are considered American soil and attacking our embassy was an act of war. So we still owe you one, Mahmoud.

Others:
GatewayPundit has more photos.
Daniel Pipes takes a look.

1. Aquavelvajad Illustrated

   Texas Rainmaker points to interesting photo documentation of what appears to be Mahmoud “For Peaceful Purposes” Ahmadinejad, at the scene of the seized American embassy in Tehran in 1979.

   Trackback by Suitably Flip — 9:06 pm
   

2. Then any action the US might take would be considered a “continuation” of hostilities… after all we were attacked and did not respond “immediately.”

   Comment by Old Soldier — 8:26 am
   

3. […] Texas Rainmaker says yes, Daniel Pipes isn’t sure, I say no. You make the call. […]

   Pingback by Hot Air » Blog Archive » Who’s that girl? — 8:59 am
   

4. Random thoughts on the world situation

   According to a confidential United Nations report, “Iran, Syria, Libya and Hizbullah are providing advanced training, arms, and financing to Somalia’s Islamic Forces in exchange for their military support to the Shiite group during its summer war wit…

   Trackback by Right Truth — 9:26 am
   

5. […] Dr. Sanity is wondering about the Paradise that is Iran. Hey, that’s not new thinking. Bill Clinton praised Progressive Iran a while ago. But then he’s always been fond of Iran, and wasn’t it interesting to read in James Risen’s State of War how Clinton gave Iranian physicists blueprints for part of a nuclear bomb. But then Clinton and the Arab world have always been a mutual-admiration society. Heck no one ever blew up anything of ours, while he was president. And now…what’s a little plutonium waste between friends? Even friends who stormed the embassy? […]

   Pingback by The Anchoress » New blog, old blueprint news, Victory & other tales — 12:53 pm
   

6. […] Jason Smith TexasRainmaker.com  […]

   Pingback by MND » We Still Owe You One, Mahmoud — 1:55 pm
   

7. Not by the Hair of His Chinny-Chin-Chin

   Rumors have long swirled that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was involved the 444-day Iran hostage crisis, with no less than five hostages coming forward to accuse him publicly of being one of the ringleaders. Other former hostages have said the…

   Trackback by Confederate Yankee — 11:03 am
   

8. Where Were Today’s Mullahs- in 1979?

   From globalsecurity.org: “When the idea of storming the American embassy in Tehran was raised by the OSU, Ahmadinejad suggested storming the Soviet embassy at the same time!” Former hostage Colonel David Roeder states: Out of his 51 interrogations, A…

   Trackback by Mensa Barbie Welcomes You — 5:53 pm
   

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