I see... so if I posted a reference to a load of BS like Goober did, you guys wouldn't rake me over the coals???? Or is it just Goober who can post erroneous information, claim its the facts at the time and then later back pedal when he realizes what he referenced was a load of BS
The fact is the CIA did not safely whisk the Americans out of Iran. Swiss Air did. The CIA only played a supporting role in the Canadian led rescue effort.
The real story behind the Great Canadian Caper:
On November 4, 1979, a large angry mob of Iranian students and militants overran the American embassy. Most of the staff of one US consulate building managed to escape into the streets of Tehran. The broke up into two groups. One group was captured right away and the other group of six made contact with the British embassy, whose staff hid them in their homes for the first six days. Then when Iranian government fell, and the British residences became too closely watched, the Brits contacted friendly embassies for help and accepted offers of assistance from Canada and Sweden. At which point Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor took the leadership role in ensuring the safety of the Americans. For two weeks one American lived at the Swedish embassy until he joined the five other Americans hiding in the homes of Canadian diplomats. The American government was kept in the loop, but they had no effective presence in Iran and were helpless to assist their citizens.
The Americans initially considered a military style rescue operation but rejected the idea as too dangerous with a low probability of success. Instead they decided to accept a Canadian government offer to issue their citizens genuine Canadian passports and exit Iran disguised as Canadians. The CIA came up with the Argot movie cover story and created the related dummy corporations and offices. The CIA forged the Iranian travel visas which were sent via Canadian diplomatic courier to Tehran. When the forged visas arrived, a Canadian embassy staff member who was fluent in Farsi noticed the CIA forged Iranians visas had obvious errors including spelling mistakes delaying the escape attempt. The CIA got the Iranian visas right on the second attempt.
Canadian embassy staff helped the Americans learn their Canadian identities, work on Canadian accents and played Canadian trivia games. Canada booked tickets for the Americans out of Tehran on a Swiss air flight.
36 hours before the planned escape, CIA disguise and extraction expert, Tony Mendez, arrived in Tehran with all the supporting documents for the Argot cover story, appropriate clothing, and materials to change their appearance.
On the January 28, 1980, a New Zealand diplomat drove Mendez and the six Americans to the airport where they uneventfully passed through security, boarded the Swiss Air Flight and arrived in Zurich Switzerland.
While Mendez's skills were critical for the Americans' escape and he did take personal risks to help the Americans escape, Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor played the leading role in what became known as The Great Canadian Caper.
