Amid the chaos of the Iranian Hostage Crisis, six Americans manage to evade capture and find refuge at the Canadian embassy. With time running out and their lives on the line, CIA disguise expert Tony Mendez devises an audacious plan: posing the group as a Hollywood film crew scouting locations for a fake sci-fi movie. Be the first to know about Wondery’s newest podcasts, curated recommendations, and more! Sign up now at https://wondery.fm/wonderynewsletterFollow Redacted: Declassified Mysteries with Luke Lamana on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial by visiting https://wondery.com/links/redacted/ now.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Full Episode
Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to redacted, declassified mysteries early and ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Just before dawn on January 28th, 1980, Cora Lijak stood outside the Canadian ambassador's residence in Tehran, Iran. She breathed in the crisp morning air, trying to settle her churning stomach.
She exhaled and pulled a film script out of her bag. She knew the basic plot, but hadn't had the chance to read it all the way through. The title page read Argo in big bold letters with the words, A Cosmic Conflagration, written below in smaller font. Cora flipped through the pages.
She tried to take in all the details of the sci-fi thriller, the absurd names of the characters, the ridiculous plot, the weirdly stiff dialogue. The movie seemed to be about tearing down a caste system on an alien planet, which made her wonder what kind of hack had come up with this. I did, she reminded herself.
Cora had been instructed to memorize her cover story down to the last detail and to sell the lie. I'm Teresa Harris, she told herself. I'm the screenwriter. Her husband, Mark, came up behind her to tell her it was time to go. Cora, Mark, and the other four Americans in their group thanked their hosts and left in a Canadian embassy van. Cora looked out the window as they drove.
It was hard to believe how dangerous Iran's capital was by day when everyone was still peacefully asleep. Her thoughts drifted to her co-workers, the 53 Americans who were still being held hostage by radical Iranian students at the American embassy. She'd seen them being paraded around on the news with blindfolds on. If she and her companions got caught today, they'd likely join them.
Or face something even worse. Cora double-checked that her forged Canadian passport was still in her pocket. She dug around to make sure she wasn't carrying anything with her real name on it. When she found an old receipt for the dry cleaners, she stuffed it in between the car seats. The vans pulled up outside the Mehrabat airport. Cora's heart pounded as she walked toward the entrance.
The freedom she'd been praying for over the last three months of hiding was closer than ever. But so was the danger of being discovered, captured, and possibly killed. The only way she and her co-workers were going to make it home was to believe they were who they said they were. As she stepped into the airport, she told herself one final time, I'm Teresa Harris. I'm the screenwriter.
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