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CIA Fact-Checks 'Argo', "The Best Bad Idea We've Had"

By Genevieve Burgess | Movie and TV Facts | November 8, 2014 |

By Genevieve Burgess | Movie and TV Facts | November 8, 2014 |


This week was the 35th anniversary of the fall of the US Embassy in Tehran. Most of the Embassy workers were taken hostage for the next few years. A few managed to escape the Embassy and were smuggled out of the country with the help of the Canadian ambassador and the CIA. It’s the story told in Argo, although with a few cinematic embellishments. Yesterday the official Twitter account of the CIA set the record straight.

Some things aren’t particularly interesting or surprising; there were two agents who went to Tehran, not one. There was no trip to the marketplace. The agents who went had full approval when they left.


There was at least one thing the film got true-to-life; there was a small celebration on the plane after it cleared Iranian airspace (minus the movie’s last-minute confrontation at the gate and chase down the runway).


You can check out the official CIA twitter account for more, or read the account written by the actual Agent Mendez who was played by Ben Affleck in the movie.