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March 17th, 2013 
Peter Nolan 
Ben Affleck in a scene from Argo.
Source: Supplied
A FORMER New Zealand embassy worker who helped the United States during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis wants to set the record straight on Hollywood blockbuster Argo’s depiction of events.
The Oscar-winning movie, directed by and starring Ben Affleck, portrays the dramatic escape by six US diplomats and suggests the New Zealand embassy in Tehran refused to help.
In fact, ambassador Chris Beeby and second secretary Richard Sewell provided a safe house for the fleeing diplomats.
The movie is based on the actions of Canadian ambassador Ken Taylor, who has confirmed he received ”outstanding assistance” from the New Zealanders, while Affleck has conceded the movie wasn’t fair.
Former embassy worker Maureen Campbell-White has spoken out about the incident for the first time in 34 years.
She told the Herald today that she and other staff from the New Zealand, US and UN compounds had just returned from a camping trip when they heard Iranians had stormed the US embassy.
Mr Beeby hid four US diplomats under blankets in his car and took them to the New Zealand embassy, Ms Campbell-White said.
Two of the men decided to ”go off and do their own thing”, while the other two hid in the embassy’s safe room.
Harbouring the US diplomats was so top-secret that Ms Campbell-White couldn’t even tell her then-husband Winston Prattley, who headed the UN in Iran, about it.
Mr Beeby contacted Mr Taylor and, after several days, drove the two US officials to his residence.
Ms Campbell-White says that while Argo is a good film, its content – which cuts out New Zealand’s involvement – is inaccurate.
Ms Campbell-White wants Mr Sewell and Mr Beeby, who have both since died, to receive posthumous awards.
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