Affleck's Argo does mention West's backing for Shah

In his letter he provides a summary of the US-British involvement in the 1953 coup which toppled the democratically elected government of Iran, with the inference that Argo did not mention this.

In fact, their role in the coup and their support for the Shah and his fearsome secret police is clearly stated in the film's opening sequence.

What I find interesting is that director Ben Affleck (pictured) was a friend of the late leftist US historian Howard Zinn, who dedicated his life to educating US citizens about their nation's destructive foreign policy.

Odd, then, that Affleck, surely aware of the CIA's long history of overthrowing democratically elected governments around the world, chose to tell a story in which the CIA are the heroes, not the villains.

Ian Sinclair

London N19