'Argo: The Real Story': How a daring Canadian diplomat aided the escape of six US embassy staff from strife-torn Iran in 1979
Most know that Ben Affleck's 'Argo', the 2012 film which dramatized the escape of six US embassy workers from the pressure cooker that was Iran during its 1979 revolution, is based on facts.
The film, which adapted its screenplay from CIA operative Tony Mendez's book on the event, 'The Master of Disguise,' mainly highlighted his role in hatching the extraordinary plan of disguising the diplomats as a film crew and sneaking them out of the country.
And while Argo went on to earn widespread acclaim and won Oscars in three of the seven categories for which it was nominated - Best Film, Best Editing, and Best Director in 2012 - it received flak for undermining the role of the Canadian embassy and its diplomats in aiding the daring escape.
An escape that was brought on by the fact that socio-political tensions in Iran had pushed the country to a tipping point during the Iranian Revolution.
Demonstrators and supporters of Ayatollah Khomeini, the hardline Shi'ite leader who had seized power in the country, protested furiously with the demand that the US hand over Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah, to them.
The Shah, who had been highly unpopular amongst the masses because of his friendliness to the US, had fled the country during the revolution fearing for his life, and the mob was demanding his return so he could stand trial for his crimes.
The warning signs were prevalent. Early in 1979, anti-American protestors had overrun the US Embassy in Tehran but had then left it after a few hours.
When they overran it again on November 4, 1979, those inside would not be so lucky. Angered at the US's refusal to give up the Shah, the protestors, disregarding every law of international diplomacy, took 52 employees from the embassy hostage. They announced that they would be returned only in exchange for their exiled former ruler.
But at the time, they did not realize that six diplomats had managed to sneak out and escape. Mark and Cora Lijek, Bob Anders, Lee Schatz, and Joe and Kathy Stafford had slipped out without's the mob's notice and taken shelter at Anders' apartment.
They knew the abode was temporary, however. A mistake by one of the diplomats, who called the American embassy that was now overrun by protestors and gave them all their names, ensured that they were now the most-wanted people in the country.
The British embassy briefly sheltered them but was forced to rescind their help after their people came under threat. The diplomats remained on the run for the next few days, desperately avoiding the protestors and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as they tried to come with a more permanent solution to their predicament.
After five days on the run, they're extended a lifeline by John Sheardown, the Former Canadian First Secretary, and his wife Zena Sheardown, after the pair are told of the diplomats' plight by Canadian diplomat Roger Lucy.
Even though there were active manhunts in progress for the six Americans, the Sheardowns housed them for months, with little regard for their safety and well-being. It's at this point that Mendez and another CIA agent make their entry with the order to exfiltrate the diplomats. While his initial ideas for the same prove quite fallible, he struck a note when he revealed his most outrageous plan: having the diplomats disguised as a Canadian film crew who were in the country to scout locations for a science fiction movie called 'Argo.'
Ben Affleck's 'Argo' builds on this plan and revolves around how a ragtag group of diplomats with no acting experience now have to keep it together through what will undoubtedly be the most stressful experience in their lives as they try to trick airport security.
What's not highlighted, however, is the bureaucratic red tape Canadian officials had to navigate to make Mendez's seemingly preposterous plan a reality.
For one, the diplomats needed official Canadian passports, which were not handed out to any non-citizen. To solve this, Lucy worked with the Canadian government to call a session of parliament to change the law so an exception could be made in this case.
Lucy was also the one who took up the mantle of training the diplomats in their newly minted roles. He drove them through the metaphorical wringer to ensure they would not snap under pressure and had their details memorized to a T.
The incredible amount of preparation that went into the ploy ensured that all six went unnoticed at the Mehrabad Airport in Tehran and managed to successfully board a Swissair flight to freedom.
REELZChannel's 'Argo: The Real Story' will shine a spotlight on the incredible work that went on behind the scenes from diplomats such as Lucy, as well as the Canadian government that ensured that the CIA's plan went through without hitches.
The documentary will premiere on the network on August 29.