A different story about the U.S. and Iran - From the Cluttered Desk with Keith Roulston

As U.S. President Donald Trump tries to impose his will on Iran, only elderly people today recall the lessons of how difficult that can be.

 

It was way back in 1979 when a revolution in Iran threw out the U.S.-supported Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi of  the Imperial State of Iran. Then, on Nov. 4, 1979, students captured 52 American diplomats and demanded that they be exchanged for the return of the Shah, who had been granted residence in the United States. Jimmy Carter, then the U.S. president, refused.

 

That began a standoff that continued for 444 days. It was also the period leading up to the 1980 U.S. presidential election and Carter’s inability to rescue the Americans led to a landslide loss for the President. Ronald Reagan succeeded him.
Canadians recall a Canadian connection to the whole story. Six American diplomats were not among those captured. They took up hiding in the Canadian embassy under Canadian ambassador Ken Taylor. 

 

The Canadians took great personal risks in sheltering the Americans, giving refuge in their private homes to the six American diplomats who were in danger. Two “friendly-country” embassy officials assisted as well, and an unoccupied diplomatic residence was used for several weeks.

 

Taylor contacted Flora MacDonald, Canadian Secretary of State for External Affairs, and Canadian Prime Minister Joe Clark for assistance. They expressed support for the sheltering effort. They decided to smuggle the six Americans out of Iran on an international flight by using Canadian passports for them. To do so, an Order in Council was made to issue official multiple copies of Canadian passports, with various fake identities, to the American diplomats in Canadian sanctuary. The passports that were issued contained a set of forged Iranian visas prepared by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency to be used in an attempt to escape from Iran.

 

The “Canadian caper” involved adding two CIA operatives to the six Americans, who were given fake Canadian passports. They pretended to be a film crew scouting locations to shoot a scene for a film.  On the morning of Sunday, Jan. 27, 1980, the full eight-person party passed through passport control at Mehrabad Airport in Tehran, boarded a Swissair flight to Zurich and escaped Iran.

 

Upon landing in Zurich, the six diplomats were taken by CIA operatives to a mountain lodge safe house for the night. There, they were told that, for diplomatic purposes, they would not be able to talk to the press and that they would be kept hidden in a secret location in Florida until the hostage situation was resolved.

 

However, the next day, the story broke in Montreal, in an article written by Jean Pelletier, Washington correspondent for La Presse; it was quickly picked up by the international press. The CIA drove the six diplomats from Switzerland to the U.S. Ramstein Air Base in West Germany to be flown across the Atlantic to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

 

The Canadians closed their embassy the same day. Ambassador Taylor and the remaining staff returned to Canada. The six American diplomats arrived in the United States on Jan. 30, 1980.

 

The Canadians involved in the rescue were appointed to the Order of Canada, Canada’s second-highest civilian award. They included: Ambassador Taylor and his wife Patricia; Immigration officer John Sheardown and his wife Zena; Mary Catherine O’Flaherty, communications officer; Roger Lucy, political officer and first secretary for the Canadian Embassy and Laverna Katie Dollimore, personal secretary for Ambassador Taylor.

 

American gratitude for the Canadians’ actions was displayed widely and by numerous American television figures and ordinary citizens alike, who particularly recognized Taylor for gratitude. The Canadian flag was flown in many locations across the United States, and advertisements were taken out on “Thank You” billboards. Two films and a children’s book celebrated the event.
Meanwhile, a mission to invade Iran and rescue the hostages failed, further undermining U.S. public support for Carter. After 444 days, the hostage crisis came to an end with the signing of the Algiers Accords between the Iranian and American governments. Pahlavi had died in Cairo, Egypt, on July 27, 1980.

 

The image of Jimmy Carter changed immensely after his loss of office. He was a dedicated volunteer and global ambassador for Habitat for Humanity. His work began in 1984 and, alongside his wife Rosalynn, they spearheaded the Carter Work Project, which helped build or repair more than 4,400 homes across 14 countries.

 

He died at age 100 in 2024.