Former U.S. diplomat tells story of escape from 1979 Iran hostage crisis

A man closely watching the conflict in Iran from his Maryland home escaped the 1979 embassy takeover in Tehran by hiding with Canadians.

Former diplomat Robert Anders of Silver Spring and five others were known as the Canadian Six, whose escape was recounted in the film “Argo.”

“I think there is going to be a power vacuum,” said Anders, who is about to turn 101 but has a clear memory of his time in Tehran.

He worked at the embassy there when a group described as Iranian students stormed the embassy in November 1979, taking hostages.

“When the embassy was taken over, there were demonstrations right outside the embassy, so it wasn’t any surprise that they finally tried to take over the thing,” Anders said.

He was in a separate building in the compound that day, and after a few hours, he made his way through a door that led to the back street. As many as 12 employees went out the back.

“And we split into two groups,” Anders said. “Five or six went one way and five or six went another way. I was in the, one group was captured right away.”

Anders’ group first took refuge in his apartment before making its way to the home of Canada’s deputy ambassador.

“We were very comfortable,” Anders said. “We didn’t know what was gonna happen, but we had plenty to eat and drink, and they had a big library.”

He said they were able to follow the news and knew the 52 hostages were being abused. For the next three months they stayed hidden.

“We didn’t know what was gonna happen, you know, really, and until these guys from CIA came and said they had three different plans for how to get us out of there,” Anders said.

That escape was made famous by the 2012 film “Argo,” which won the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Anders had to learn a backstory, becoming Robert Baker, location manager of Studio Six, a fake studio set up by the CIA. He still has his calling card for the phony studio.

After some planning and using fake Canadian passports, the six made it to the airport and a flight to Switzerland.

On board, there was a celebration.

“Everybody played their role, and we got out OK,” Anders said.

The ordeal was a little scary, he said, but after his colleagues were taken hostage, he was pleased the CIA’s escape plan worked and made the Iranians look foolish.

As for the movie?

“They exaggerated some things, but yeah, it was good,” Anders said.

The 52 hostages eventually were released Jan. 20, 1981.