“There are still questions that have not been answered related to his involvement during that time of the hostage taking,” spokesman Scott McClellan said. “It’s incumbent on the government of Iran to answer those questions.”
The State Department announced Wednesday that Ahmadinejad had received a US visa in order to be able to attend the UN General Assembly in New York next week despite questions about his past.
On November 4, 1979, following Iran’s Islamic revolution, a group of radical student followers of Ayatollah Khomeini stormed the US embassy in Tehran and held 52 of its staff hostage for 444 days.
Several former hostages have said they recognized him as one of their captors.
Ahmadinejad, 49, is a veteran of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards who went on to become mayor of Tehran before his shock victory in his country’s presidential election this year.
