Three decades after hard-line students occupied the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took diplomats hostage for 444 days, many of the now middle-aged revolutionaries are among the most vocal critics of Iran's conservative establishment, officials and analysts said.
The role of the students is back in the spotlight following the appointment of a new U.N. ambassador who may have participated on the fringes of the siege, the event that led Washington to sever ties with Tehran shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The U.S. State Department, which has yet to approve a visa for Hamid Abutalebi, said it had raised "serious concerns" with Iran about his nomination for the post. But Iran hopes the case can be resolved, while Abutalebi has played down his role in the hostage crisis, suggesting he was just a translator.