Iran's president-elect has dismissed allegations claiming his involvement in the 1979 hostage-taking at the US Embassy in Tehran and in killing dissidents.
"The dissemination of baseless information by Western countries despite enjoying advanced intelligence gathering capabilities is questionable," the official Islamic Republic News Agency quoted Mr Ahmadinejad as saying during a meeting with Iranian lawmakers.
Seven former American hostages held in the embassy take-over have claimed that Mr Ahmadinejad was one of their captors, though organisers of the hostage-taking have said he was not among them.
A separate allegation stems from a report by the Austrian newspaper Der Standard, quoting a top official with Austria's Green Party as saying authorities have "very convincing" evidence linking Mr Ahmadinejad to the 1989 killing of Abdul-Rahman Ghassemlou, an Iranian opposition Kurdish leader in Vienna.
The agency report didn't say if the president-elect commented on that charge.
Mr Ahmadinejad also criticised remarks by Western countries about last month's presidential election in Iran. "These countries will have to explain why they are attacking the democratic behaviour of the Iranian people," he said.
"We seek fair and expanding relations with all countries, and I advise them to adjust their stances toward Iran," he said.
Mr Ahmadinejad won a surprise victory in the election in late June, solidifying the control of Iran's hardliners on the nation's leadership and dealing a blow to the faltering reform movement.
AP