RAPTOR Takes Flight - CIA Exfiltration Story with Jonna Mendez

Both Tony and Jonna Mendez are former Central Intelligence Agency Chiefs of Disguise. Tony is famous for the rescue of six stranded American diplomats depicted in ARGO, but that was not his only delicate operation in Iran in 1979.
The husband and wife duo share the extraordinary exfiltration story of the CIA’s top source in Iran. RAPTOR had served in the Shah’s armed services and his close connection to the Shah had provided the CIA with fantastic intelligence.
When Khomeini took over, RAPTOR had to go into hiding and was in grave danger. Hear how Mendez travelled to Iran in the tumultuous spring of 1979 and how he got RAPTOR out before the Revolutionary Guard could find him.
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[@DanNguyen-xd6wg]

I’ve been binge watching Mrs. Mendez about her and her husband clandestine stories and talks for the last few days. I saw Argo couple years back and loved the film, but the book is much better. I think I’m going to read the rest of their books for the duration of the quarantine since now I have all the time in the world. Amazing stories.

[@BlindFury00]

You should watch Ms Mendez and her and Tony's disguise you tube video. Wow! She fooled Pres. G.W Bush SR lol. Great video and the things they could do. Hope u check it out I think you would like it. 👍

[@rossauce12]

Are you still reading them?

[@pkspalding]

9

[@salyoutubepremium7734]

I'm very grateful to those who had the vision to build the Spy Museum. These men and women who work in the "Spy business" are true American Heros 🇺🇸

[@krissy7342]

I am so sorry for of Jonna’s loss of Tony. They sound like a super power couple. You can tell she has all the adoration of the world 🌎 for him by the way she speaks & tells his story. 💖

[@createyourownparadise18]

Indeed, i would love to watch better version of Mr. & Mrs. SMITH. it would be Tony & Jonna Mendez

[@tatianalyulkin410]

He's still alive as far as she's concerned- he lives in her heart.

[@pegschwalbach2500]

She's such an amazing woman, so much intelligence and talent in that brain. Wow!

[@tatianalyulkin410]

And such a professional. And so classy.

[@aprilnelson9044]

Jonna, ty so much for sharing all these wonderful stories! I salute you and your late husband. You are both what everyone likes to think they would be in such circumstances. From all of us wannabe's....ty, from the bottom of our hearts.

[@AnthonyKingUK]

Just brilliant. What a great speaker!

[@davidthomas-ot4cl]

Love Jonna. She's such a good story teller. I've just got the book The Moscow Rules and I'm looking forward to reading it.

[@LeslieLanagan]

This video is absolutely amazing and so sad. Tony died not too long ago, and I love living his memories. The book is out now- it's called The Moscow Rules.

[@smashlolaretta]

So sad, Parkinson's. Such a loss of an amazing man. I watched her talk and went that afternoon and bought their book.

[@LivingDead53]

There's a glimmer of humanity in there, I swear.

[@gerardojuarez7940]

Jonna Mendez very charming lady I really enjoy her story

[@garfieldfarkle]

Outstanding presentation.. The International Spy Museum sure does these things right, and I look forward to visiting it and coming to one of these talks.

[@tatianalyulkin410]

Google their online giftshop. You're not gonna be sorry you did.

[@donarnold8268]

Thank you!

[@milmex317th]

Rest in Peace T.M.

[@Prince-pb1vf]

This is so interesting .

[@adamsmith8370]

Thank you and Tony...

[@lindy4shores]

Hi Jonna and Tony!! Lindy Marciniak here... Nice to see you two again, lol.. It's wonderful to see this great stuff out of the spy museum.. Grateful to both of you..

[@Cubanbearnyc]

I LOVE the expired passport story !

[@kateg7298]

Jonna Mendez is an amazing woman. Every time I see an interview with her, I know that I'm about to learn something fascinating. She's clear, concise, fiercely intelligent and self-deprecating at times. She's long been one of the most influential women in the United States but very few know her name. You can tell just by listening to her speak that in any crisis, she clicks into business mode. Know your options, form a plan, form backup plan and cover all the bases. If those fail, form an escape plan. I would trust her to be the smartest person in any room, including CIA headquarters.

[@tatianalyulkin410]

Oleg: " Sis, what are you doing with Jonna Mendez? She's CIA! " Victoria Bondarenko Tsareva : " Brother dearest, she's so NOT! She's my photography teacher. " 🤣

[@hairdresser1300]

WoW

[@loftsatsympaticodotc]

Love the intro; simple, effective, slightly jazzy, brassy music, and the simple graphics implying we're heading into a spooks world. and a very informative presentation about the famous Shah . We hired an Iranian mechanic about 1982. He'd been an aircraft mechanic on the Shah's Boeing 747, before exiting the craziness that Iran later became.

[@TeaParty-qh1py]

I interviewed a Palestinian political science professor on TV. He was evasive about Arab culture. Only later did I learn that he was a top member of the PLO. See "The Rational Individualist" on KZbin for the interview,

[@ericthered760]

Not to mention that about 2 weeks after the takeover of the US Embassy in Tehran in November, 1979, the US Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, was entered and burned down. Also that year, US Ambassador to Afghanistan, Adoph Dubbs, was kidnapped at the time of the first Tehran take over (February 14th) and later died in a hostage rescue attempt.

[@Canonfodder62]

Jimmy Carter made a few bad decisions? That’s an understatement!

[@08CARIB]

Fascinating, I'm always surprised this information is allowed to be shared with the general public.

[@krissy7342]

Probably because the new technology is either 1. So sophisticated w technology that it’s no longer classified or 2. IF it’s still being used and the “unclassified” is a lie.

[@theodoremartin6153]

Probably because its all a fabrication of the pr department at the CIA.

[@-caesarian-6078]

@@theodoremartin6153 / Why would the CIA even need a PR department? And if they did, these panels and speeches to tiny crowds seem like the worst way to sway opinion about them.

[@theodoremartin6153]

@@-caesarian-6078 Oh my g-d.....And you get to vote?

[@-caesarian-6078]

@@theodoremartin6153 Yes, as did the tens of millions of people who believed the blatant lies that “The 2020 election was stolen” or “Putin placed trump in office in 2016”, just because politicians repeatedly shouted it into microphones. Even if everyone who is watching this is being fooled by some kind of elaborate alternate history of the CIA, then the amount of people swayed by it still wouldn’t make a difference. The CIA could just have one Hype-man who goes on Facebook “exposing” the FSB for being idiotic in a 90 second rant twice a week, and it would be thousands of times more effective at swaying the electorate.

[@psmith9789]

After leaving Iran in a hurry the US sent the Shah to Gorgas Hospital (for US military and Panama Canal employees)😊 in Panama due to his cancer. He was there a few weeks and the ward where his hospital room was on was closed off and the Shah was the only patient on the entire floor. Just as he arrived under tight security he was wisked off and left the hospital. Rumor had it that he had been flown to Contadora Island (in Panama). Rumor also had it that the Shah paid $12M to the then military dictator in Panama to be allowed to enter and stay in that country temporarily.

[@Deadman7977]

I thought that Russian dude was kolugin, I'm glad somebody mentioned that. Was driving me crazy the whole video

[@selenaclarke]

I was very moved to see the great Love that you expressed for your Husband through your words and your emotions. That's what I took from this video

[@ninirema4532]

very smart great dear mam super one lecture 🌍🌏🌎🌍🌏🌎🌍🌏🌎

[@user-yt7kf8ik2z]

I do hope I can make it back to DC one day, just so I can visit the spy museum! It was built years after I moved away (I did a student teaching internship in DC back in 2001). The museum really sounds amazing; surely in no small part to Jonna and Tony Mendez's involvement in its development! They have clearly contributed much to the American public's knowledge and fascination with the concept of spycraft. While I am quite sure we are necessarily only getting relatively broad strokes and altered retellings of their adventures; so as to protect the Agency's current work and past and present agents and various assets, they have found ways to nevertheless communicate the immediacy and drama of it all quite effectively! It also helps that listening to her gives one the feeling of listening to their lovable grandmother or a friendly next door neighbor; someone possessing both the most affable affect and the best possible life stories to share. I could listen to her talk all day long with no problem whatsoever!❤🇺🇲💙

[@tatianalyulkin410]

When watching Aunt Jonna's videos all day doesn't help- IT'S BAD! 🤣

[@ruthgallagher1168]

I agree about the box rescues. Just shoot me. Thank you and your late husband for all you did. Such an interesting life.

[@KNIGHTJUMPS]

Does SDR equal cleaning run?

[@createyourownparadise18]

What about Tonny Met Jonna Mendez Movie? another better version of Mr. & Mrs Smith, Id love to see that movie

[@chinabuzz]

Who is obnoxiously yelling out "purported!" at 01:07:00?

[@LivingDead53]

Sometimes you have to pick the worst people. He shot me. I have ambition. He's going to redeem me. My poor brain.

[@LivingDead53]

They never let me out of Satan's garbage can.

[@Jahwobbly]

"Our guy" was only a "penetration," and oh-so-unfortunately, was ahem "associated" with SAVAK. #Whichwasrunbytheshahohthehumanityididnttouchher. Oh, the surprise that must have been! Come on guys. Your operations guys were out of control, drunk with '53, and now you look bad. That's the true story we need. Standing by...

[@LivingDead53]

I try to deny it, but I'm not allowed to. It's a cliche in my life.

[@apothecarydelmar2823]

She is so wrong about Jimmy Carter. We now have the public confessions of Ben Barnes l.

[@anng.4542]

So the CIA handily unseated the legitimately elected president of Iran, Mossadegh, but missed Khomeni's Islamic revolution? And that's not the only thing they missed, within recent memory.

[@TheTexasmick]

You want incompetence, just look at the CIA and look at this incapable woman giving this word salad talk.

[@sophiesmith5922]

ok...not that recent....

[@tatianalyulkin410]

2014. The Ukrainian coup.

[@TheSuzberry]

I went to the Spy Museum decades ago when it first opened. It was the most boring place I’d ever paid to enter. This new museum sounds fascinating. Covid, go away so I can get there.

[@richardcopeland6859]

Yea Mon

[@yfa6244]

This sounds so petty but I wish they would fix that contact paper on the back wall. So cheap for such a priceless speech!

[@mikeletaurus4728]

Right? It messes with my OCD.

[@jinka6171]

Me too…..get the bubble out!

[@sophiesmith5922]

bubbled warped veneer...huh

[@markbackus1449]

Captions would be helpful.

[@sophiesmith5922]

turn on youtube captions in your settings

[@markbackus1449]

I did.

[@ruddytuesday]

Not sure how anyone can talk about Argo and dance around the fact is was the Canadian Embassy and people that did it, not American. Like not even a little.

[@paddyanne2024]

Absolutely, a travesty that the real story is not being told! The movie is a farce.

[@tatianalyulkin410]

No, I'd say it was a group effort. Without Tony, without " we're just making a movie " cover story it might not have worked.

[@TheTexasmick]

She has no idea which Embassy did anything. She's completely clueless and incompetent, and she can't remember one sentence from another. She has no idea she's repeating herself constantly. She's Brandon's type of woman.

[@tatianalyulkin410]

She fought Bolshevism her entire life. If I can see the Wokester crap for what it is- what makes you think Jonna Mendez is any different? She's ten times as brilliant as yours truly or Konstantin Kisin are. And yes- we're calling you out.

[@wasilaify]

Just saw her on Liberty University's Convocation. I KNEW she was a Christian!

[@Feroal2]

What does that have to do with anything?

[@clownhands]

Bummer

[@theodoremartin6153]

A professional liar is a christian?

[@tatianalyulkin410]

Why would you think otherwise? What is it about her that screams " Wokey Woke Bolshevik garbage "? Of course she's one of us!

[@ninirema4532]

Very great smart speech.🌍🌏🌎🌏🌍🌎🌍🌏🌎

[@ChrisM-bn5vr]

What group of “terrible movies” was she talking about when she said Affleck made a group of terrible movies before he made Argo? The movies he made before Argo were “The Town” and “Gone Baby Gone” which were both amazing movies. Kind of dumb to publicly insult your husbands colleague like that to a group of people, not very spy-like of you….

[@highviewbarbell]

Maybe she means dogma and Jay and silent bob strike back, but I liked those 😅

[@tatianalyulkin410]

Aunt Jonna, I believe the word you were fishing for is " desperate "?

[@johnfairchild3421]

Wow. Man the. Nerves. Krazy man just so. (. Intense). Bob13

[@peterwhite7428]

I have listened to Jonna for Moscow Rules. Great speaker. I was in Communist Poland in 1980 as a Fulbright Fellow. The ministry of education declined my first application. I am sure my family and I were objects of the Party’s interest. Solidarity was born that year. I’m sure they watched me, but for no reason .

[@rjust2297]

All right Mendez. See you on for a date or not? S*** I'm not scared. Sorry about the resume. At any rate I'd love to have a glass of wine. At least not w h i n e. LOL I had to Chris Costa what the f*** he has a complete clowns. I love it. Moving forward I can't wait to see what happens tomorrow thanks for the good dreams and the bad ones too. I'm effing believable. Well that's not what I meant to say but you heard it. Cows 101

[@DEATHxNVK3]

1:02:30 Rude af

[@frida507]

What is rude?

[@LivingDead53]

They are not innocent either. They're the ones who help make me that way. Then they're somehow surprised. It's not them, its' me, of course. They're pure and good.

[@theodoremartin6153]

When the old guy started talking about the proliferation of conspiracy theories,he lost all credibility and i typed this message . Bye.

[@roarkm.o.banjonjeffries3713]

Well at least you cleared it up 9 months at about the 12 something time stamp sorry I was on rotation

[@alvin8391]

Over thirty years since the end of the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union have passed - not by their collapse from rotteness but from the conspriacy of some USSR leaders who no longer wanted to be under a Soviet Union's president. During the 30+ years, we have seen the behavior of the Unitied States in Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Bolivia, Panama, Syria to be far from that of a high minded, moral country that, freed from having to deal with the evil USSR, could now encourage other nations to be guided by the UN Charter and moral principals. On the contrary, we have seen the USA as a lying, destructive, terrorizing force in the world, continuing to be responsilble for misery and death in other countries that have done us no harm. With this in mind, when I think back on the numerous spies and traitors to the USA, going all the way back to the "atomic" spies of WW2, I have a much different attitude than I held when those heinous betrayals were committed. Maybe those traitors knew things about how our country behaves in the world about which I had then no understanding. Maybe, they went for the money they received from Moscow because they realized, "Why not!" If the USA can do what it does for the benefit of its ruling class of corporate arm merchants and banks, "Why shouldn't I take what I can?" Indeed, they did, were caught and went to prison. The Rosenbergs, who did not spy for financial gain, Jews, were executed. Others escaped beyond the arm of Uncle Sam. People died, US agents, because of these betrayals. I do not excuse the betrayers, but they are no worse, morally, than our Presidents since the end of WW2, who by Nuremberg standards were and are indictable war criminals.

[@roarkm.o.banjonjeffries3713]

So November of '79 is when Argo took place and you're telling me 6 months earlier in February. As far as I know let's count together March April May June July. August there's your 6-month mark September October November that's 9 months Jonna get your s*** together