How a graphic artist used forgery to rescue six diplomats

Ideas & Philosophy · Published 19 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: In 1980, the world watched as the Iran hostage crisis reached a breaking point. But behind the scenes, a CIA technical officer was using the art of deception to execute one of the most audacious rescue missions in history.

Tony Mendez, a technical operations officer for the CIA, did not begin his career in espionage. Originally trained as an artist at the University of Colorado, he worked as an illustrator and tool designer for the aerospace firm Martin Marietta. In 1965, a blind advertisement for a graphic artist led him to the CIA’s Technical Services Division, where his artistic skills were repurposed for identity document forgery and the creation of disguises.

His most famous achievement, known as the 'Canadian Caper,' took place in January 1980. Following the overthrow of the Iranian government, six American diplomats sought refuge at the Canadian embassy. Mendez orchestrated a plan to exfiltrate them by posing as a Canadian film crew. To complete the deception, the diplomats carried Canadian-issued passports and supporting documents to authenticate their false identities. For his leadership in this mission, Mendez was awarded the Intelligence Star on March 12, 1980.

The details of this operation remained classified for decades, only coming to light after the declassification of records. In 2007, journalist Joshuah Bearman published a detailed account of the mission in Wired magazine. This narrative later served as the basis for the 2012 film Argo, directed by and starring Ben Affleck. While the film won an Academy Award, the real Mendez—who served the CIA for 25 years—spent his later years documenting these clandestine histories through four non-fiction memoirs, including works like Master of Disguise and The Moscow Rules.

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