Organizer Of Iran Rescue Mission That Inspired 'Argo' Film Dies At 78

RFE
21 Jan 2019, 12:37 GMT+10

Tony Mendez, the former CIA agent who engineered the smuggling of U.S. hostages out of Iran in 1980 and was immortalized in the Hollywood film Argo, has died of complications from Parkinson's disease.

Mendezs family said in a statement on January 20 that he died on January 19 at the age of 78.

The statement, relayed via Twitter by Mendezs literary agent Christy Fletcher, said the last thing he and his wife, Jonna Mendez, did was to get their new book to the publisher.

He died feeling he had completed writing the stories that he wanted to be told,' the family statement said, adding that Mendez suffered from Parkinson's for the past 10 years.

When Iranian revolutionaries seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979, a handful of diplomats managed to escape through a back door and took refuge at the Canadian Embassy in Tehran.

Mendezs plan to rescue them involved setting up the production in Hollywood of a fake science-fiction film titled Argo, traveling to Iran to scout out locations, then returning to the United States with the six U.S. diplomats masquerading as the film crew.

The diplomats, armed with fake Canadian passports, slipped out of Iran and to safety on January 27, 1980.

The story served as inspiration for the film Argo, which won three Oscars in 2013, including for best motion picture.

Fifty-two other Americans were not as lucky. They were held hostage by the Iranian revolutionaries for 444 days.

Based on reporting by AP and Reuters

Watch latest videos

News RELEASES

Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Illinois Intelligencer.

More Information

null in null

North America

Section

"Nixon made Indira Gandhi sit in his waiting room for 1 hour": Nishikant Dubey takes dig at nehru-gandhi foreign policy

New Delhi [India], June 20 (ANI): Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) MP Nishikant Dubey on Friday took a sharp dig at the Congress party and...

China's military threats prompt US Pacific Fleet to reinforce deterrence in Taiwan and South China Sea

Taipei [Taiwan], June 20 (ANI): Admiral Stephen Koehler, the commander of the US Pacific Fleet, stated on Tuesday that the fleet's...

'Small group' of Khalistanis in Canada fund violence in India - Ottawa

Canadian intelligence has said Sikh extremists use the country as a base to carry out anti-India activities ...

Small group of Khalistanis in Canada fund violence in India Ottawa

Canadian intelligence has said Sikh extremists use the country as a base to carry out anti-India activities A small number of Khalistani...

"Jeremy Allen White was very tolerant of me": Bruce Springsteen on his biopic set visits

Washington DC [US], June 20 (ANI): Singer Bruce Springsteen opened up about watching the shoot of his biopic 'Springsteen: Deliver...

JGU Vice Chancellor to speak at Japanese Parliament on Democracy, Higher Education & Sustainable Environment

OP Jindal University Tokyo [Japan], June 20: To strengthen the bilateral Higher Education Relationship and to enhance the democratic...

International

Section