Post by : Meena Ariff

On November 4, 1979, 66 Americans were seized at the US Embassy in Tehran by Iranian revolutionaries enraged by Washington’s backing of the deposed Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The US decision to admit the ailing Shah for medical care further inflamed public outrage and helped trigger the embassy takeover.

Amid the upheaval, six embassy staff slipped out through a rear exit and found sanctuary with Canadian diplomats Robert Anders, John Sheardown and Ambassador Kenneth Taylor, staying hidden while Iranian security forces searched for any Americans.

Tony Mendez: The CIA’s Unconventional Planner

The Agency initially judged a rescue too risky—until CIA exfiltration specialist Tony Mendez proposed an audacious alternative. He developed a cover in which the escapees would pose as members of a Hollywood location-scouting team for a fictional sci-fi film titled Argo, backed by staged production materials, press notices and forged paperwork.

Mendez traveled into Tehran using an assumed identity, worked closely with Canadian officials and coached the six Americans to adopt convincing new personas under intense pressure.

Operation 'Canadian Caper': The Real Story Behind the Movie

After almost three months of careful preparation and mounting risks, the group boarded a flight on January 27, 1980, and departed Iran. The extraction, known as the “Canadian Caper,” is remembered as one of the CIA’s most inventive covert operations.

The episode later inspired the 2012 film Argo, directed by and starring Ben Affleck as Mendez. The movie spotlighted contributors such as makeup artist John Chambers (played by John Goodman) and Canadian Ambassador Kenneth Taylor (portrayed by Victor Garber).

Although the film condensed and dramatized elements for the screen, it conveyed the collaboration, ingenuity and courage that made an unlikely escape possible.

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