AP: The White House said Thursday it is taking seriously the allegations of some former American hostages who say the believe that Iran’s president-elect was one of their captors in the late 1970s. “I think the news reports and statements from several former American hostages raise many questions about his past,” White House press secretary Scott McClellan said of the Iranian president-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. “We take them very seriously and we are looking into them to better
understand the facts.”

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Jun. 30 – Iran’s newly-elected President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will jointly meet with four of the failed hard-line presidential hopefuls this evening where they are expected to reach an agreement over senior cabinet posts. Ahmadinejad, himself an ultra-conservative who is set to take office on August 4, will meet with Ahmad Tavakkoli, Mohsen Rezai, Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf, and Ali Larijani.

Reuters: At least four Americans held hostage in the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran said on Thursday they recognized Iran’s president-elect as one of the ringleaders from the crisis, a claim denied in Tehran. In interviews with U.S. television networks, retired Navy Capt. Donald Sharer and Bill Daugherty, said they were convinced Iran’s ultra-conservative President-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was one of their Iranian captors.

Reuters: Three Americans held hostage in the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran remember Iran’s president-elect as a key player in the seizure, The Washington Times reported on Thursday. In interviews with the newspaper, the former hostages recalled Iran’s ultra-conservative President-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad interrogating captives, the report said.

Financial Times: The US is threatening severe financial penalties against any foreign companies or individuals that do business with the government agency that operates Iran’s civilian nuclear programme. The move could open new rifts among the US, Russia and Europe over how to deal with the nuclear threat posed by Iran.

Washington Times: Americans held in the 1979 seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Iran said yesterday they clearly recall Iranian President-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad playing a central role in the takeover, interrogating captives and demanding harsher treatment for the hostages. “As soon as I saw his picture in the paper, I knew that was the bastard,” said retired Army Col. Charles Scott, 73, a former hostage who lives in Jonesboro, Ga.

AP: A quarter-century after they were taken captive in Iran, five former American hostages say they got an unexpected reminder of their 444-day ordeal in the bearded face of Iran’s new president-elect. Watching coverage of Iran’s presidential election on television dredged up 25-year-old memories that prompted four of the former hostages to exchange e-mails.

The Times: A photo has emerged which it is claimed links the President-elect of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, with the taking of 60 American hostages during the US embassy siege in Tehran in 1979. A London-based Iranian news agency which opposes Mr Ahmadinejad is circulating the photograph, which it says was taken by the Associated Press news agency on the first day of the hostage crisis.