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Welcome to Spycast, the official podcast of the International Spy Museum.

I'm your host, Sasha Ingberg, and each week I take you into the shadows of espionage, intelligence, and covert operations across the globe.

In November 1979, radical Iranian students overran the U.S. Embassy in Tehran,

capturing most of the embassy staff, except for six diplomats who found refuge with Canadian embassy

staff. In 2008, the founding director of the International Spy Museum, Peter Ernest,

talked with two of the American officials who were rescued, Mark and Coralijic. And this time,

they were joined by retired CIA officer Tony Mendez, who passed away in 2019.

Tony helped plan and execute an elaborate deception and disguise operation,

exfiltrating the diplomats before the Iranians figured it out.

Here's that conversation.

So welcome to all of you.

Thank you.

Thank you. Tony, when we ended the last part, Mark and

Cora had described what it was like, staying in that house, which was for up to about three months.

They described the arrival of you and another gentleman and a very pleasant meal that you had,

their impression was, in reflecting back on it,

that you didn't identify yourselves right up front.

And my sense would be you might have been sort of assessing the situation

and seeing if you thought these people could carry and escape off.

Well, that might have been part of it. I think the idea for not identifying us right away

...