Some Iranian officials knew all about the six American diplomats hiding out with the Canadian ambassador in 1979 but did nothing to prevent their escape.
That emphasizes the fact that many who loyally supported the revolution thought the hostage episode was a national horror and wanted nothing to do with it.
Some of the details emerged last week in a broadcast by Radio-Canada, the French language arm of the Canadian broadcasting Corp.
Bruce Laingen, who was the highest ranking diplomat taken hostage and who was confined to the Foreign Ministry building for the 444 days, told Radio-Canada he even told Iranian diplomats he trusted about the six people he knew were with the Canadian ambassador.
He said he hoped they would be able to help the American escape. He said that in the end they could not help, but they never divulged what they knew. “They knew it, but kept it secret. And I give them credit for that,” Laingen said.
Ken Taylor, the Canadian ambassador, told Radio-Canada, he surmised that some Iranian officials had figured out that some US diplomats had not been caught in the embassy take over.
“I think there was some suspicion among Iranians that some US diplomats were out of the embassy,” Taylor said. “I don’t think they took it seriously enough to pursue it and certainly it didn’t govern our thinking.”
Ahmad Salamatian, a deputy foreign minister at the time who now lives in exile, said he and others knew what was going on but remained silent.
“It was absolutely certain that the people in charge at Iran’s feign Ministry—particularly the protocol department—knew there were diplomats
in the Canadian Embassy,” he said. He said he knew and kept silent about it.