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The CIA Finally Sets the Record Straight on the True Story Behind Argo
Since joining the service in June, CIA has used its Twitter account to recount unclassified operations throughout history.
On the 35th anniversary of the Iran hostage crisis, the CIA—through its Twitter account—fact-checked Ben Affleck’s Oscar-winning 2012 film Argo, which dramatized the agency’s operation to smuggle six US diplomats out of Tehran after they eluded capture during the takeover of the embassy.
Since neither confirming nor denying that it joined Twitter in June, the CIA has used its Twitter account to recount unclassified operations throughout history (when you think about it, that’s really all a CIA Twitter account can do). It recently explained the history of Skyhook—the aerial retrieval system made famous in The Dark Knight—which, magnificently, is a real thing.
Though meant to recognize the anniversary of the hostage crisis, the CIA’s Argo fact-check is coming at an interesting time. “Twitter diplomacy” is at an all time high, especially with Iran’s leaders. President Hassan Rouhani and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei both have active Twitter accounts, and the latter recently used his to call for the destruction of Israel. Twitter is still officially illegal for Iranians to use, however.
Read how the Argo mission (previously best known as the Canadian Caper) really went down below.