What's happened
Ed Johnson, a pivotal CIA officer in the Iran hostage crisis, passed away on August 27, 2024, at 81. His identity remained secret for decades, only revealed in a 2023 CIA podcast. Johnson played a crucial role in the covert operation to rescue American diplomats during the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis.
Why it matters
What the papers say
According to the New York Times, Johnson's identity was kept hidden for decades, only revealed in a CIA podcast. The South China Morning Post noted that he was known as 'Julio' and played a crucial role in the rescue operation, which was dramatized in the film 'Argo.' The Independent emphasized Johnson's dual identity as both a family man and a covert agent, highlighting the complexity of his life and contributions.
How we got here
Johnson's covert work during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis involved extracting six American diplomats from Tehran. His identity was kept secret for years, known only by the pseudonym 'Julio' until the CIA disclosed it in 2023. His contributions were largely unrecognized until recently.
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The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, tasked with gathering, processing, and analyzing national security information from around the world, primarily through the use of h
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Tehran is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With a population of around 8.7 million in the city and 15 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most populous city in Iran and Western Asia, and has the third-largest m