162. Argo: How the CIA Made a Movie That Never Existed (Ep 3)

CIA officer Tony Mendez and his partner Ed Johnson land in Tehran on the morning of January 25th, 1980, posing as Hollywood production staff for Studio Six Productions. The city is cold and tense, with revolutionary guards patrolling the airport. In a crucial sleight of hand, they grab extra immigration forms needed to forge documents for the trapped diplomats. Despite Mendez's concerns about being recognized from a previous operation, they pass through immigration without incident and make their way to meet Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor.

• Mendez and Ed arrive undercover as production manager and associate producer for Studio Six Productions
• Ed Johnson uses sleight of hand to steal extra immigration disembarkation forms from the airport
• Mendez worries about being recognized from his previous Raptor exfiltration operation
• They successfully pass through immigration and walk to the Canadian embassy, getting lost along the way

Throughout the episode, the critical role of Canadian diplomats becomes clear, from Ambassador Ken Taylor's months of intelligence work and hosting the houseguests at enormous personal risk, to Roger Lucy catching the calendar error in the forged documents and conducting the hostile interrogation rehearsal. The Sheardowns particularly took exceptional risks, with John's wife Zina having no diplomatic immunity. The Canadian embassy is simultaneously shutting down, with staff leaving on the same day as the planned exfiltration to avoid retaliation if the operation is discovered.

• Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor had been conducting intelligence collection for CIA on embassy situation
• The Sheardowns housed four diplomats with Zina Sheardown having no diplomatic immunity protection
• Roger Lucy spotted the critical Persian calendar dating error that CIA's technical team missed
• Canadian embassy staff are departing on same day as exfiltration to avoid retaliation