Ken Taylor, the former Canadian ambassador to Iran who played a key role in helping six Americans escape Tehran, has died. He was 81.
His son confirmed his death to CBC News. According to the Associated Press, Taylor’s wife, Pat, said that he battled colon cancer.
Taylor gained fame for helping put together the “Canadian Caper” in 1979. He managed to keep six Americans hidden after they escaped the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. The Americans stayed at his home and his deputy’s home for three months before he was able to help get them plane tickets. He also convinced the Canadian government to issue them fake Canadian passports so they could leave Iran.
Although the operation would have been impossible without Taylor’s work, he and others felt that Canada’s role in the hostages’ escape was downplayed in Ben Affleck’s Argo. Even former U.S. President Jimmy Carter thought that the film didn’t provide an accurate portrayal.
“In the movie, Canada and Ottawa didn’t exist,” Taylor told the New York Times in February 2013. “It’s a great film, it’s great. But at the same time it was a Canadian story that’s been, all of sudden, totally taken over by the Americans. Totally.”
Taylor “valiantly risked his own life by shielding a group of American diplomats from capture,” Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said today. “Ken Taylor represented the very best that Canada's foreign service has to offer.”
Taylor is survived by his wife, his son and two grandchildren.
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