In November 1979, 35 years ago, a diplomatic crisis between Iran and America rocked the world as the US embassy in Tehran was stormed and its personnel taken hostage in what became known as the Iran Hostage Crisis. In a related event called the 'Canadian Caper,' six embassy staff managed to escape and were later rescued in a covert operation by the Americana and Canadian governments. The mission was the stuff Hollywood spy thrillers are made of - CIA operatives posed as a film producer and extracted the six American diplomats, who posed as part of the film crew.
In 2012, a semi-fictionalized version of the Canadian Caper was filmed by Hollywood. Argo, directed by and starring Ben Affleck, swept the awards season winning, among other honours, the Best Picture Oscar.
To mark 35 years of the Iran Hostage crisis, the CIA - the CIA, for god's sake - tweeted a fact vs fiction lesson of sorts, listing out what Argo got wrong.
Here's a run-though of CIA's tweets:
We love #Argo, @TheAcademy award winning film by @BenAffleck. Today we tell you what's "reel" vs. "real". pic.twitter.com/QgFC014kUe
- CIA (@CIA) November 7, 2014Real vs reel Argo, lesson one:
Reel #Argo: When the US Embassy is overtaken the 6 US diplomats go right to the Canadian ambassador's residence to live for the 3 months.
- CIA (@CIA) November 7, 2014Real #Argo: 5 of them went to many different places until they ended up at the homes of the Canadian Ambassador & the Dep. Chief of Mission.
- CIA (@CIA) November 7, 2014Real #Argo: 1 American slept on the floor of the Swedish embassy before making his way to the Canadian Ambassador's home after 2 weeks.
- CIA (@CIA) November 7, 2014Reel vs real Argo, lesson two:
Reel #Argo: Only one CIA officer goes to Tehran to help exfiltrate the six American diplomats. pic.twitter.com/iFEcrBzlyb
- CIA (@CIA) November 7, 2014Real #Argo: Two CIA officers with notable forgery and exfiltration skills used their talents & knowledge to get the six out of Iran safely.
- CIA (@CIA) November 7, 2014Reel vs real Argo, lesson three:
Reel #Argo: The CIA officer and the six diplomats go into town to scout locations. pic.twitter.com/2gx2sHjPBO
- CIA (@CIA) November 7, 2014Real #Argo: They never went to the marketplace to scout a location. The six hid in the Canadian's homes for 79 days. pic.twitter.com/szTgt9stvb
- CIA (@CIA) November 7, 2014Reel vs real Argo, lesson four:
Reel #Argo: The mission is called off the night before they are scheduled to depart. pic.twitter.com/j4h0at57Sq
- CIA (@CIA) November 7, 2014Real #Argo: Carter gave approval prior to the CIA team flying to Tehran, Iran. The details were approved by policymakers in Ottawa and DC.
- CIA (@CIA) November 7, 2014Real #Argo: The night before the exfiltration the team received final approval; last line in that approval: "See you later, exfiltrator."
- CIA (@CIA) November 7, 2014Reel vs real Argo, lesson five:
Reel #Argo: Airline tickets are not waiting at the counter and have to be rechecked before the tickets are authorized and confirmed.
- CIA (@CIA) November 7, 2014Real #Argo: The Canadians had already purchased the tickets for the Americans. There were no issues at the counter nor the checkpoints.
- CIA (@CIA) November 7, 2014Reel vs real Argo, lesson six:
Real #Argo: The Canadians had already purchased the tickets for the Americans. There were no issues at the counter nor the checkpoints.
- CIA (@CIA) November 7, 2014Real #Argo: It didn't happen. An early flight was picked so airline officials would be sleepy & Revolutionary Guards would still be in bed.
- CIA (@CIA) November 7, 2014Reel vs real Argo, lesson seven:
Reel #Argo: Shredded documents are pieced together to reveal the face of one of the Americans & the plane is chased down the runway.
- CIA (@CIA) November 7, 2014Real #Argo: Skilled carpet weavers did reconstruct shredded documents, but they didn't reveal one of the Americans at the last moment.
- CIA (@CIA) November 7, 2014There was one thing, though, the film got right.
Reel #Argo: The plane clears Iranian air space and the Americans cheer and celebrate.
- CIA (@CIA) November 7, 2014Real #Argo: That happened; there was even a round of celebratory Bloody Marys. #ThankYouCanada
- CIA (@CIA) November 7, 2014Lettign Ben Affleck film part of Argo in CIA headquarters near Washington DC? 'Best bad idea' they ever had.
Real #ARGO: An exciting movie that it kept us on the edge of our seats. Letting @BenAffleck film here? Best bad idea we've had. #ThanksBen!
- CIA (@CIA) November 7, 2014Cheers to that.
