Canada's ex-envoy to Iran details cooperation with CIA

Kenneth Taylor said Tehran was of great political and strategic importance to Washington and thus the US embassy tried to keep abreast of Iran's internal developments through regular meetings with the Shah.

Following the US embassy takeover on Nov. 4, 1979, Taylor, who was based in Tehran at the time, said that he did not expect the takeover to last much long when he opted to give sanctuary to six US diplomats who had managed to escape the embassy seizure through the back door.

According to Taylor, he got further caught up in the whole issue when the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) sent two of its agents with three infiltration plans to recover the US diplomats, one of which was to issue passports for the US diplomats to leave Iran under the guise of Canadian tourists.

The Globe and Mail revealed on Saturday that Canada's former Ambassador to Tehran, Kenneth Taylor, was serving as the "de facto station chief" for the CIA in Tehran in the wake of the Islamic Revolution.

According to the paper, then-US President Jimmy Carter and Canadian Prime Minister Joe Clark agreed in a secret meeting that Taylor would provide US intelligence with information from his position at the Canadian Embassy in Tehran.

He won praise in the US for sheltering six US Embassy staff as well as helping them return home on Jan. 27, 1980.

In conversation with The Globe and Mail this week, Taylor said he felt confident taking on the US intelligence enterprise because Iran at the time was in chaos and the risk was minimal.

The details of Taylor's role are revealed in the book “Our Man in Tehran” by Trent University historian Robert Wright.

/Press TV/