CIA identifies second officer involved in 'Argo' mission

For the first time, the CIA has revealed the identity of a second officer who played a key role in a 1980 rescue mission in Iran that later inspired the Oscar-winning film Argo.

Also known as the "Canadian caper", the risky and complex operation saw the CIA smuggle six US diplomats out of Iran disguised as a film crew.

With Canada's help, two CIA officers and the six diplomats boarded a flight to Zurich, slipping past the watchful eyes of Iran's revolutionary-era security services.

To do so, the group posed as filmmakers on a trip to scout for locations in which to film a science fiction film, Argo.

Until this week, only one of the officers - disguise and forgery specialist Tony Mendez - had been publicly identified.

Now, the CIA has named the second officer as Ed Johnson, an expert in covert extractions.

Among those who knew him at the CIA was Bob Mendez's wife Jonna, herself a 27-year veteran who rose to become the spy agency's "Chief of Disguise".

Speaking to the BBC, Mrs Mendez described Mr Johnson as a "remarkably skilled linguist" who was also an expert in creating false documents.

"He seemed to be perfectly suited to the work he was doing," she said.

"I have to thank the Iranians for being the beacon who got us to the right place," Mr Johnson said in the CIA interview.