Q: I just saw the movie “Argo,” and I understand the six American embassy workers had been turned away from two other embassies before they got to the Canadians. Which two countries turned them away?
—Betty Jean Jala, Lilburn
A: Early in the film, a CIA supervisor tells actor/director Ben Affleck's character that the six U.S. Embassy staff workers had been turned away by Britain and by New Zealand, saying: "Brits turned them away, Kiwis turned them away." This depiction angered British diplomats who say they helped the Americans during the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, according to published reports. Sir John Graham, Britain's ambassador to Iran at the time, told The London Telegraph: "It is not the truth that they were turned away from the British Embassy. We gave them all help at the time." He was initially outraged, but "I have since simmered down," Graham said in the article posted Oct. 20. Chris Beeby, New Zealand's ambassador to Iran at the time, and second secretary Richard Sewell, had a house for the Americans, if needed, and provided food and played chess with them while they were at the Canadian Embassy, according to "Our Man in Tehran: The Truth Behind the Secret Mission to Save Six Americans during the Iran Hostage Crisis and the Ambassador Who Worked with the CIA to Bring Them Home," by Robert Wright. "I struggled with this long and hard because it casts Britain and New Zealand in a way that is not totally fair," Affleck told the New Zealand Herald's "TimeOut."
Andy Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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