Edward B. Johnson, the second CIA officer in Iran for the 'Argo' rescue mission, dies at 81

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Edward B. Johnson, who as a CIA officer traveled into Iran with a colleague to rescue six American diplomats who fled the 1979 U.S. Embassy takeover in Tehran, has died, the agency confirmed Monday. He was 81.

Johnson's identity for decades had been hidden from the public, with him known only by the pseudonym “Julio” after fellow CIA officer Antonio “Tony” Mendez published a book recounting the operation. The 2012 Academy Award-winning film “Argo,” directed by and starring Ben Affleck, didn't include the second man on the team.

Yet a painting at the CIA's headquarters in Langley, Virginia, offered a faceless acknowledgment of Johnson's existence. And in 2023, the CIA itself revealed Johnson's identity in a podcast highlighting the agency's work to free the diplomats hiding at the Canadian ambassador's residence in Tehran.

“Working with the six — these are rookies,” Johnson recounted in an interview aired by the podcast. “They were people who were not trained to lie to authorities. They weren’t trained to be clandestine, elusive.”