"They all look the same" claims right-wingers

Maybe that will be the excuse if it turns out the new Iranian leader is not one of the 1979 captors.

On the other hand, if he turns out to be the same person, expect many conspiracy theories. Everything from "the CIA fixed the election so the U.S. will have a reason to invade Iran" to "John Kerry and PBS knew all along."

Already, the spin is on, as Jeff Gannon blogs: "Iranians are denying and the American media is downplaying any potential role Mahmoud Ahmadinejad might have had in the hostage crisis that lasted for the last 444 miserable days of the Carter presidency." I have a hard time accepting his claim that the American media is downplaying the story when it's a top story of all the news networks, television shows, newspapers, and websites (like Google News and Yahoo News).

Affirmation would certainly play right into Bush and the Neo-Con's hands. That's why they seem so eager to accept it. For example, look at Scott McClellan's remarks:
"We continue to look into it and establish all the facts. I don’t think it should be a surprise to anyone if it turns out to be true."

Bush made a comment that made it sound like fact had already been established:
"I have no information, but obviously his involvement raises many questions."

I would be interested in the details of how the former hostages' first accusations happened. Whether true or not, this episode has a "swift boat veterans" feel to it.