Escaping Iran

"Escaping Iran is a first-person account of a daring CIA operation to extricate six American diplomats caught up in the 1979 Iranian revolution. With their comrades held hostage at the embassy compound, the author and five others managed to slip away and find refuge with the staff of the Canadian embassy, where they became known in communications with Ottawa and Washington as the houseguests. The Hollywood-based escape plan, the CIA's best bad idea, has become famous as the subject of the 2013 Oscar best picture Argo. The author provides an insider's perspective on the true details of the plan, but also focuses critical attention on the courage, ingenuity, and genuine hospitality of the Canadians. In addition to hiding them for three months, the Canadians provided the all-important Canadian passports, and ultimately made the rescue possible. The book summarizes the background to the attack on the US embassy, providing an up-close description of life in revolutionary Iran prior to the takeover. It discusses the errors and misjudgments that led to the crisis, as well as the aspects of the history of US-Iran relations that served to make the US the "great Satan" in the eyes of many Iranians. This is a thoroughly revised and expanded version of the author's previous book, The Houseguests, containing much new information."--Publisher description.