Mark Lijek is a retired US foreign service officer whose career began in Iran just prior to the hostage crisis in 1979. One of six Americans able to escape the compound and find refuge with staff of the Canadian Embassy, he and his wife Cora eventually fled Iran with CIA assistance. The story of the escape became the basis for the 2013 Best Picture-winning film Argo. After Iran, Lijek remained in the foreign service, with assignments in Hong Kong, Nepal, Poland, and Germany, as well as Washington, DC. Lijek served as a minor consultant to Argo and is the author of Escaping Iran: A True Account of the Best Bad Idea, as well as a number of articles dealing with the Canadian role in his escape.