Former Canadian Ambassador Who Harbored Americans During Iran Hostage Crisis

“He represented the very best Canada’s foreign service offers”.

Nearly unbelievably, Canada’s heroic former ambassador to Iran was not invited to the premiere of the Warner Brothers movie about the escape of six US hostages who escaped from Teheran. Taylor was serving as ambassador in Tehran in 1979, when he and his wife sheltered American diplomats for three months as they hid from authorities after the American embassy had been overrun.

Taylor was also the subject of a made for TV movie called “Escape from Iran: The Canadian Caper”.

Taylor was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his actions.

Mr Taylor endangered his own life to help the Americans.

Upon learning about the controversy, an ostensibly oblivious Affleck phoned Taylor and invited him to speak openly about his qualms with the film.

“Ambassador Taylor’s courageous actions exemplify the enduring nature of the special relationship between the United States and Canada”, the statement said. “There was no second thought about it”.

Taylor resided in New York City, but remained a Canadian citizen.

Taylor was the architect and driving force behind the protection and eventual escape of six American Embassy workers during the violent Iran Hostage Crisis in 1979. A few were released within weeks, but 52 of the hostages, from U.S. Marine guards and secretaries to the charge d’affaires of the embassy, were held for 444 days.

“We’re making it into a “thank you, Canada” event”, Affleck told me.

During his final week in hospital, the former ambassador received visits from friends and reminisced about their lives, Douglas Taylor said.

Affleck set the record straight, saying the Central Intelligence Agency operation would not have succeeded without the help of Taylor and his fellow Canadians.

On his return, he served briefly as Commissioner to Bermuda, and until 1984 as Canada’s consul general in New York, a post befitting his deep experience.

In 2013, Taylor’s story was told once more for posterity at the Toronto global Film Festival, which debuted the documentary, “Our Man in Tehran”.