Argo: A Review from International Law

Angela Paulina Barrera Rodríguez

In the midst of the Cold War, communist and capitalist influence struggled to establish itself as
the dominant political system on the international stage. Amid this hostile environment, the
United States and the CIA, in its quest to form a barrier against Soviet influence, allied itself
with the government of Iran for many years. After the Islamic Revolution (1979) the Shah
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was overthrown, and the United States allowed him to be transferred
to its territory to receive medical treatment since he was suffering from cancer. During his
regime, several crimes were committed against the population, and the people demanded that the
United States extradite the Shah back to Iran to pay for his crimes and accused the embassy of
being involved in espionage activities to sabotage the new Irani government.

In November 1979, in Tehran, a student demonstration demanding the extradition of the Shah
stormed the building and took the entire diplomatic corps as hostages, lasting 444 days in
captivity. Within the framework of these events, the film Argo, directed by Ben Affleck, narrates
how 6 American diplomats escaped in the middle of the takeover of the embassy and took refuge
in the house of the Canadian ambassador. In the film it is shown that, during the seizure, in order
to prevent Iranian citizens from finding classified information (including the personal data of the
embassy staff) in a matter of minutes they tried to destroy all the documents by passing them
through the shredder or incinerator, however, due to the rapid unleashing of the invasion, several
of the documents were at least partially recovered by the Iranians.

Several people from the capital gathered to reconstruct the photos of the staff from the strips of
paper and realized that 6 people were missing and managed to escape. The CIA articulated a
meticulous plan to rescue them seeing that they had little time before the Iranian authorities
found them, the greatest fear was the execution of the six diplomats for being accused of
espionage. Tony Mendez, the protagonist, is a United States intelligence agent who devises a
plan to create a fake science fiction film called “Argo” that would be filmed in Teheran to pass
off the six members as Canadian filmmakers to extract them from Iran. After scenes of high
tension and dramatization, the six diplomats along with Tony manage to deceive the Iranian
authorities and escape on a commercial flight while they are pursued in an action sequence on
the airport's takeoff runway.

Without a doubt, the film is a tool that contextualizes some relevant facts of the events in Tehran,
it is a good complement for anyone interested in the subject, making the point that several parts
of the film are dramatized or did not happen at all. It is always advisable to go to sources close to
the events, such as the graphic novel Persepolis by the Iranian author Marjane Satrapi, which
unfold the Islamic Revolution from her own experiences, a testimony that is much more
grounded. I do not suggest that one is more relevant than the other, but on the contrary, they can
complement the context from different perspectives, which allows us to understand in greater
depth the taking of the hostages in '79.
In my opinion, even though several parts of the film are fiction, and that the director took several
creative licenses when telling the story, it is a production that manages to reflect the crossroads
situation in which the diplomatic corps found themselves; and the clash between the political
interests of both countries. In the real world, in fact, the hostage dilemma was brought before the
International Court of Justice by the United States, it sued Iran for its failure to comply with its
obligations under international law. One of the problems resolved by the court is whether the
takeover of the embassy by the students could be attributed to the State and whether international
responsibility should be conferred on Iran. Why is this issue relevant? In international law when
a state commits an unlawful action attributable to that state, there is an absence of a circumstance
that justifies the action and a breach of international law the result is that the state is
internationally responsible for its conduct. So, if the actions were taken by a student group and
not by the state, can Iran be responsible for violating the inviolability of embassies due to the
actions of the students in Tehran?
Although the film does not provide answers to this discussion, it does invite us to reflect to what
extent the actions of a student group, notwithstanding that they are not an authority but a political
movement, can be attributed to the State of Iran. The court, however, does provide answers, it
argues that "although it was the duty of the Iranian Government to take all appropriate measures
to put an end to the transgression of the inviolability of the premises and personnel of the
Embassy, and to offer reparation for the damage, it didn't do anything of that kind”. In addition,
several officials representing the Iranian state expressed their approval and justified the students'
actions as a means to exert pressure on the United States. It finally decided that Iran bears
responsibility for not preventing the seizure of the embassy and continued to breach its
obligation when the authorities reaffirmed the actions.

Summarizing, Argo is a film that raises several debates in international law. Whether the actions
of a group of students can be attributed to a State and whether they can incur international
responsibility for Iran. It is an exciting production that engages the audience, but also allows
those of us who are interested in international law to rethink how the situation of the hostage
taking can be evaluated from this discipline and allows us to explore, at least in part, the facts of
the case in an entertaining, educational and enriching way.

References

United States Diplomatic and Consular Staff in Tehran, Judgment, 1. C. J. Reports 1980, p. 3.
(summary)

Argo 2012 Director: Ben Affleck.