Edward B. Johnson, a former CIA officer who undertook a covert mission into Iran to rescue six American diplomats during the 1979 U.S. Embassy takeover in Tehran, has passed away at 81, the agency confirmed Monday.
For many years, Johnson’s identity remained a secret, known only by the pseudonym “Julio” after fellow CIA officer Antonio “Tony” Mendez recounted the mission in a book. The 2012 Academy Award-winning film “Argo,” directed by and starring Ben Affleck, did not depict the critical role of the second man on the team. However, a painting at the CIA’s headquarters in Langley, Virginia, provided a faceless acknowledgment of his existence. In 2023, the CIA revealed Johnson’s identity in a podcast that highlighted the agency’s efforts to free the diplomats hiding at the Canadian ambassador’s residence in Tehran.
Johnson detailed his experience in an interview aired by the podcast, describing the challenge of working with the untrained diplomats. “These are rookies,” he recalled. “They were people who were not trained to lie to authorities. They weren’t trained to be clandestine, elusive.”
Johnson passed away in his sleep on August 27 in Virginia, after battling pneumonia, the CIA informed The Associated Press on Monday.
“Ed’s legacy will continue to inspire those who walk the halls of Langley for generations to come,” the agency stated.
In a statement, Johnson’s family honored him as a remarkable figure. “He was, at once, the ordinary man next door — husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle and friend — and an extraordinary agent of the state,” they said.
Details of Johnson’s career remain sparse, largely known through the CIA podcast “The Langley Files.” Johnson, known as Ed, joined the CIA after serving as an infantryman in the U.S. Army. He studied French in university, learned Spanish from his Cuban and Puerto Rican friends, and later picked up Arabic while teaching English in Saudi Arabia. His international experience and language skills led to his recruitment by the CIA. He met his wife, Aileen, while studying at Sorbonne University in Paris.
During the hostage crisis sparked by Islamist students storming the U.S. Embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979, six employees managed to slip away. They found refuge in the home of Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor. After several failed plans, President Jimmy Carter approved operation “Canadian Caper” – posing the diplomats as a Canadian film crew scouting locations for a fake movie dubbed “Argo.”
With Canadian passports, Mendez posed as an Irish filmmaker and Johnson as an associate producer representing South American financiers. Mendez later described Johnson’s considerable exfiltration experience during the Cold War, though details remain vague.
Arriving in Tehran on January 25, 1980, the men initially struggled to find the Canadian Embassy. They ended up at the Swedish Embassy, right across from the heavily guarded American Embassy. A local guard, unable to understand them, summoned a student revolutionary who spoke German. The student provided them with written directions and even flagged a taxi, declining any tip.
“I have to thank the Iranians for being the beacon who got us to the right place,” Johnson recounted.
Once with the six Americans, Johnson and Mendez provided scripts, props, and fake histories to pose as a film crew. They finalized passport and travel preparations, symbolized in a painting at CIA headquarters.
“The biggest thing I think we did was to convince them that you can, you can do it — as simple as that,” Johnson remembered.
On January 28, 1980, the group safely flew out of Tehran on a Swissair flight. Both Johnson and Mendez received the CIA’s Intelligence Star for their valor. Johnson retired from the CIA in 1995, later diving into photography while working as a contractor.
“Even as the world celebrated his heroism, he remained a ghost, a figure shrouded in anonymity,” his family said. “For decades, his identity was a closely guarded secret. It was only in the twilight of his life that he finally emerged from the shadows, a legend in his own right.”
Born on July 29, 1943, in Brooklyn, Johnson is survived by his wife, five children, nine grandchildren, and a circle of family and friends.
In the years following the “Argo” operation, there has been ongoing scrutiny of the CIA’s actions in Iran, particularly the 1953 coup that set the stage for the 1979 revolution and subsequent strained relations between Tehran and Washington. The podcast revealing Johnson’s identity acknowledged this, with a CIA historian calling the 1953 coup “one of the exceptions” to the agency’s mission to promote democracy.
