High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Tony Mendez (also known as Antonio Mendez) is a former CIA technical operations officer. His job was to support clandestine and covert CIA operations. He is most famous for the Canadian caper during the Iran hostage crisis, when six American diplomats were smuggled out of Iran by disguising them as a Canadian film crew with team leader CBC cameraman Dennis Packer and passports supplied by the Canadian government.