Former Swissair manager says 'Argo' scenes realistic
By Stephanie Nebehay | Reuters
GENEVA (Reuters) - A former Swissair official said the airport scenes in Oscar-winning film "Argo" were a realistic depiction of the airline's unwitting role in the rescue of American diplomats from Tehran during the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Heinz Koch,
who was in charge of the now defunct air carrier's operations in Tehran
at the time, said Swissair was not told about the true identities of
the "very important Canadian passengers" until months after it carried
the six U.S. diplomats to safety aboard one of its airplanes.
"I was informed by the Canadian embassy that they have
on this particular day very important Canadian passengers on board and
we should make sure that they were not off-loaded last minute. But this
was purely a reservation question, we had no direct impact on
immigration," he told World Radio Switzerland.
"It was a few
months later when we got the first information that probably these U.S.
diplomats were on board this particular Swissair flight. But we made sure that this information didn't pass around the world," Koch said.
"We still wanted to operate to and from Tehran and it
would have been a big risk if the authorities would have known that we
were involved in this operation," he added.
"Argo" stormed to Best Picture victory at the Oscars in Los Angeles. The honours for the Iran hostage drama marked a triumphant comeback into Hollywood's mainstream for director Ben Affleck.
The thriller, based on a true story, recounts a CIA
mission to rescue six American diplomats from Iran under the cover of
making a fake Hollywood film. The six escape using falsified Canadian
passports and the CIA role only emerged years later.
Iran's culture minister Mohammad Hosseini said on
Monday in a news agency report that the film was "anti-Iran" and lacked
artistry.
Life in Tehran after the revolution - during which 52 American diplomats were held hostage - was tense, Koch said.
"The situation in town was very critical. Most other
foreigners had left the country, especially families with school
children because the international schools were closed down after the
revolution."
Travelers had to pass through many checkpoints on the roads, manned by Revolutionary Guards, he said.
"But we as Swiss we usually passed without problems.
The problem was to prove that you were not a U.S. citizen because they
were looking for the Americans," Koch said.
Many Iranians and expatriates were trying to flee Iran,
Koch said. Asked if he recalled anything particular on the day of the
now historic escape, he said:
"No, for us it was a regular flight as we operated
every morning non-stop from Tehran to Zurich. The flights were always
overbooked, we were one of the very few airlines still operating to
Iran," he said.
"There was always a
big hassle at the check-in for last-minute tickets. Of course there
were also problems for Iranians and foreign passengers because they were
never sure they could leave the country or not. There were several
immigration officers checking your documents, of course the Revolutionary Guards were also present."
Koch, who said that he had seen "Argo" with his wife
and son in Switzerland, said the Tehran airport security scenes rang
true, including Revolutionary Guards questioning passengers.
"That's realistic. When you went to the airport, you
had these checkpoints before entering the building, you had checkpoints
at the airport, then you had the official immigration, you had the
Revolutionary Guards, and even before boarding the aircraft, the
passports were checked again.
"And many passengers were stopped from leaving the country."
(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay, editing by Paul Casciato)
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