The
Iran–Contra affair was a political scandal in the United States which came to light in November 1986, during the Reagan administration, in which senior US figures agreed to facilitate the sale of arms to
IranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanid period and came into international use from 1935, before which the country was known internationally as Persia...
, the subject of an arms embargo, to secure the release of hostages and to fund Nicaraguan contras.
It began as an operation to improve U.S.-Iranian relations, wherein
IsraelIsrael officially the State of Israel , is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its...
would ship weapons to a relatively moderate, politically influential group of
IranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanid period and came into international use from 1935, before which the country was known internationally as Persia...
ians; the U.S. would then resupply Israel and receive the Israeli payment. The Iranian recipients promised to do everything in their power to achieve the release of six U.S. hostages, who were being held by the Lebanese Shia Islamist group
HezbollahHezbollah is a Shi'a Islamist political and paramilitary organisation based in Lebanon. Hezbollah is now also a major provider of social services, which operate schools, hospitals, and agricultural services for thousands of Lebanese Shiites, and plays a significant force in Lebanese politics...
, who were unknowingly connected to the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution. The plan eventually deteriorated into an arms-for-hostages scheme, in which members of the executive branch sold weapons to Iran in exchange for the release of the American hostages. Large modifications to the plan were devised by Lieutenant Colonel
Oliver NorthOliver Laurence North is a retired United States Marine Corps officer best known for his role in the Iran-Contra scandal. Currently, he is a political commentator, host of War Stories with Oliver North on Fox News Channel, and a New York Times best-selling author...
of the
National Security CouncilThe White House National Security Council in the United States is the principal forum used by the President for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials and is part of the Executive Office of the President of the...
in late 1985, in which a portion of the proceeds from the weapon sales was diverted to fund anti-
SandinistaThe Sandinista National Liberation Front is a socialist political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas in both English and Spanish...
and anti-communist rebels, or
ContrasThe Contras is a label given to the various rebel groups opposing Nicaragua's FSLN Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction government following the July 1979 overthrow of Anastasio Somoza Debayle...
, in Nicaragua. While President Ronald Reagan was a supporter of the Contra cause, no evidence has been found showing that he authorized this plan.
After the weapon sales were revealed in November 1986, Reagan appeared on national television and stated that the weapons transfers had indeed occurred, but that the United States did not trade arms for hostages.
The investigation was compounded when large volumes of documents relating to the scandal were destroyed or withheld from investigators by Reagan administration officials. On March 4, 1987, Reagan returned to the airwaves in a nationally televised address, taking full responsibility for any actions that he was unaware of, and admitting that "what began as a strategic opening to Iran deteriorated, in its implementation, into trading arms for hostages."
Several investigations ensued, including those by the
United States CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election....
and the three-man, Reagan-appointed
Tower CommissionCommissioned on November 26 1986 by American President Ronald Reagan, the Tower Commission was in response to the Iran Contra scandal. Taking effect on December 1, Reagan appointed Senator John Tower, former Secretary of State Edmund Muskie, and former National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft.The...
. Neither found any evidence that President Reagan himself knew of the extent of the multiple programs. In the end, fourteen administration officials were charged with crimes, and eleven convicted, including then-
Secretary of DefenseThe United States Secretary of Defense is the head of the U.S. Department of Defense , concerned with the armed services and military matters. This position roughly corresponds to Minister of defense in other countries...
Caspar WeinbergerCaspar Willard "Cap" Weinberger , was an American politician, vice president and general counsel of Bechtel Corporation, and Secretary of Defense under President Ronald Reagan from January 21, 1981, until November 23, 1987, making him the third longest-serving defense secretary to date, after...
. They were all pardoned in the final days of the
George H. W. BushGeorge Herbert Walker Bush was the 41st President of the United States . He was also Ronald Reagan's Vice President , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence....
presidency, who had been vice-president at the time of the affair.
The affair
The affair was composed of arms sales to Iran, and funding of Contra militants in Nicaragua. Direct funding of the Nicaraguan rebels had been made illegal through the
Boland AmendmentThe Boland Amendment was the name given to three U.S. legislative amendments between 1982 and 1984, all aimed at limiting US government assistance to the rebel Contras in Nicaragua...
the name given to three U.S. legislative amendments between 1982 and 1984, all aimed at limiting US government assistance to the rebel Contras in Nicaragua. The affair emerged when a Lebanese newspaper reported that the U.S. sold arms to Iran through Israel in exchange for the release of hostages by
HezbollahHezbollah is a Shi'a Islamist political and paramilitary organisation based in Lebanon. Hezbollah is now also a major provider of social services, which operate schools, hospitals, and agricultural services for thousands of Lebanese Shiites, and plays a significant force in Lebanese politics...
. Letters sent by
Oliver NorthOliver Laurence North is a retired United States Marine Corps officer best known for his role in the Iran-Contra scandal. Currently, he is a political commentator, host of War Stories with Oliver North on Fox News Channel, and a New York Times best-selling author...
to
John PoindexterJohn Marlan Poindexter is a retired American naval officer and Department of Defense official. He was Deputy National Security Advisor and National Security Advisor for the Reagan administration. He was convicted in April 1990 of multiple felonies as a result of his actions in the Iran-Contra...
support this. The Israeli ambassador to the U.S. says that the reason weapons were eventually sold directly to Iran was to establish links with elements of the military in the country.
Hostage taking
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Middle East was faced with frequent hostage-taking incidents by hostile organizations. In 1979, Iranian students
took hostageThe Iranian hostage crisis was a diplomatic crisis between Iran and the United States where 53 Americans were held hostage for 444 days from November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981, after a group of Islamist students and militants took over the American embassy in support of the Iranian Revolution.The...
52 employees of the United States embassy in Iran. On January 20, 1981, the day
Ronald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of California .Born in Tampico, Illinois, Reagan moved to Los Angeles, California in the 1930s...
became President, the hostages were freed following the
Algiers AccordsThe Algiers Accords of January 19, 1981, were brokered by the Algerian government between the United States and Iran to resolve the Iran hostage crisis. The crisis arose from the takeover of the American embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979, and the taking hostage of the American staff there...
. Hostage taking continued following the imprisonment of members of Al-Dawa, an exiled Iraqi political party turned militant organization, for their part in a series of truck bombs in
KuwaitThe State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab emirate bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south and Iraq to the north and west. The greatest distance from north to south is 200 km and from east to west 170 km . The name is a diminutive of an Arabic word meaning "fortress built near water." It has a...
in 1983.
HezbollahHezbollah is a Shi'a Islamist political and paramilitary organisation based in Lebanon. Hezbollah is now also a major provider of social services, which operate schools, hospitals, and agricultural services for thousands of Lebanese Shiites, and plays a significant force in Lebanese politics...
, an ally of Al-Dawa,
took 30 Western hostagesThe Lebanon hostage crisis refers to the systematic kidnapping in Lebanon of 96 foreign hostages of 21 national origins - mostly American and western European - between 1982 and 1992...
between 1982 and 1992, many of whom were American.
Arms transactions
Michael LedeenMichael Arthur Ledeen is an American specialist on foreign policy. His research areas have included state sponsors of terrorism, Iran, the Middle East, Europe , U.S.-China relations, intelligence, and Africa and is a leading neoconservative...
, a consultant of
National Security AdviserThe Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, commonly referred to as the National Security Advisor , serves as the chief adviser to the President of the United States on national security issues...
Robert McFarlaneRobert Carl "Bud" McFarlane is the former National Security Advisor to President Ronald Reagan, serving from 1983 to late-1985. He was one of the major players in the Iran-Contra affair....
, requested assistance from
Israeli Prime MinisterThe Prime Minister of Israel is the head of the Israeli government and the most powerful political figure in Israel . The prime minister is the country's chief executive. The official residence of the prime minister, Beit Rosh Hamemshala is in Jerusalem...
Shimon Peres' is the ninth and current President of the State of Israel. Peres served twice as Prime Minister of Israel and once as Interim Prime Minister, and has been a member of 12 cabinets in a political career spanning over 66 years...
for help in the sale of arms to Iran. At the time, Iran was in the midst of the Iran–Iraq War and could find few Western nations willing to supply it with weapons. The idea behind the plan was for
IsraelIsrael officially the State of Israel , is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its...
to ship weapons through an intermediary (identified as
Manucher GhorbanifarManucher Ghorbanifar is an expatriate Iranian arms dealer. He is best known as a middleman in the Iran-Contra Affair during the Ronald Reagan presidency. He re-emerged in American politics during the lead-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq during the first term of President George W...
) to a moderate, politically influential Iranian group opposed to the Ayatollah Khomeni; after the transaction, the U.S. would reimburse Israel with the same weapons, while receiving monetary benefits. The Israeli government required that the sale of arms meet high level approval from the United States government, and when Robert McFarlane convinced them that the U.S. government approved the sale, Israel obliged by agreeing to sell the arms.
In 1985, President Reagan entered Bethesda Naval Hospital for colon cancer surgery. While the President was recovering in the hospital, McFarlane met with him and told him that Representatives from Israel had contacted the
National Security AgencyThe National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States government, administered as part of the United States Department of Defense. Created on November 4, 1952 by President Harry S...
to pass on confidential information from what Reagan later described as "moderate" Iranians opposed to the Ayatollah. According to Reagan, these Iranians sought to establish a quiet relationship with the United States, before establishing formal relationships upon the death of the Ayatollah. In Reagan's account, McFarlane told Reagan that the Iranians, to demonstrate their seriousness, offered to persuade the Hezbollah terrorists to release the seven U.S. hostages. McFarlane met with the Israeli intermediaries; Reagan claims that he allowed this because he believed that establishing relations with a strategically located country, and preventing the
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
from doing the same, was a beneficial move. Although Reagan claims that the arms sales were to a "moderate" faction of Iranians, the Walsh Iran/Contra Report states that the arms sales were "to Iran" itself, which was under the control of the Ayatollah.
Following the Israeli-U.S. meeting, Israel requested permission from the U.S. to sell a small number of
TOW antitank missilesThe BGM-71 TOW is an anti-tank guided missile. "TOW" stands for "Tube-launched, Optically-tracked, Wire-guided". The TOW was first produced in 1970 and is the most widely used anti-tank guided missile in the world.-Design and development:...
(Tube-launched, Optically-tracked, Wire-guided) to the moderate Iranians, saying that it would demonstrate that the group actually had high-level connections to the U.S. government. Reagan initially rejected the plan, until Israel sent information to the U.S. showing that the moderate Iranians were opposed to terrorism and had fought against it. Now having a reason to trust the moderates, Reagan approved the transaction, which was meant to be between Israel and the moderates in Iran, with the U.S. reimbursing Israel. In his 1990 autobiography
An American LifeAn American Life is the 1990 autobiography authored by former American President Ronald Reagan. Released almost two years after President Reagan left office, the book reached number eight on The New York Times bestsellers list.-Content:...
, Reagan states that he was deeply committed to securing the release of the hostages; it was this compassion that motivated his support for the arms initiatives. The president requested that the moderate Iranians do everything in their capability to free the hostages held by Hezbollah.
According to
The New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded in 1851 and published in New York City. The largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States, "The Gray Lady"—named for its staid appearance and style—is regarded as a national newspaper of record...
, the United States supplied the following arms to Iran:
- August 20, 1985. 96 TOW
The BGM-71 TOW is an anti-tank guided missile. "TOW" stands for "Tube-launched, Optically-tracked, Wire-guided". The TOW was first produced in 1970 and is the most widely used anti-tank guided missile in the world.-Design and development:...
anti-tank missiles
- September 14, 1985. 408 more TOWs
- November 24, 1985. 18 Hawk
The Raytheon MIM-23 HAWK is an American medium range surface-to-air missile. As a backronym, some consider HAWK to stand for Homing All the Way Killer. The HAWK was initially designed to destroy aircraft and was later adapted to destroy other missiles in flight. The missile entered service in 1960,...
anti-aircraft missiles
- February 17, 1986. 500 TOWs
- February 27, 1986. 500 TOWs
- May 24, 1986. 508 TOWs, 240 Hawk spare parts
- August 4, 1986. More Hawk spares
- October 28, 1986. 500 TOWs
First arms sale
In July 1985, Israel sent American-made
BGM-71 TOWThe BGM-71 TOW is an anti-tank guided missile. "TOW" stands for "Tube-launched, Optically-tracked, Wire-guided". The TOW was first produced in 1970 and is the most widely used anti-tank guided missile in the world.-Design and development:...
antitank missiles to Iran through an arms dealer named
Manucher GhorbanifarManucher Ghorbanifar is an expatriate Iranian arms dealer. He is best known as a middleman in the Iran-Contra Affair during the Ronald Reagan presidency. He re-emerged in American politics during the lead-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq during the first term of President George W...
, a friend of
Iran's Prime MinisterPrime Minister of Iran was a political post in Iran that had existed during several different periods of time starting with the Qajar era until its most recent revival from 1979 to 1989 following the Iranian Revolution.-Prime Ministers of Qajar era:In the Qajar era, prime ministers were known by...
,
Mir-Hossein MousaviMir-Hossein Mousavi Khameneh is an Iranian reformist politician, painter and architect who served as the fifth and last Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran from 1981 to 1989...
. Hours after receiving the weapons, the Islamic fundamentalist group
Islamic JihadThe Islamic Jihad Organization was the name used by telephone callers demanding the departure of all Americans from Lebanon and taking responsibility for a number of kidnappings and of bombings in Lebanon which killed several hundred people. Their deadliest attacks were the 1983 Beirut barracks...
, that later evolved into
HezbollahHezbollah is a Shi'a Islamist political and paramilitary organisation based in Lebanon. Hezbollah is now also a major provider of social services, which operate schools, hospitals, and agricultural services for thousands of Lebanese Shiites, and plays a significant force in Lebanese politics...
, released one hostage they had been holding in Lebanon, the Reverend
Benjamin WeirBenjamin Weir was an American hostage in Lebanon during the Iran-Contra Affair .Weir, who with his wife Carol served as missionaries in Lebanon with the Presbyterian Church for nearly 30 years, was kidnapped off the streets of Beirut on May 8, 1984. The kidnapping was done by an Islamic...
.
Arrow Air 1285 crash
After a botched delivery of
HawkThe Raytheon MIM-23 HAWK is an American medium range surface-to-air missile. As a backronym, some consider HAWK to stand for Homing All the Way Killer. The HAWK was initially designed to destroy aircraft and was later adapted to destroy other missiles in flight. The missile entered service in 1960,...
missiles, and a failed London meeting between McFarlane and Manucher Ghorbanifar,
Arrow Air Flight 1285Arrow Air Flight 1285 was a McDonnell Douglas DC-8-63CF jetliner, registered N950JW, which operated as an international charter flight carrying U.S. troops from Cairo, Egypt to their home base in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, via Cologne, Germany and Gander, Newfoundland...
, a plane containing nearly 250 American servicemen, crashed in
NewfoundlandNewfoundland and Labrador is a province of Canada on the country's Atlantic coast in northeastern North America. This easternmost Canadian province comprises two main parts: the island of Newfoundland off the country's eastern coast, and Labrador on the mainland to the northwest of the island.A...
on December 12, 1985. On the day of the crash, responsibility was claimed by the
Islamic Jihad OrganizationThe Islamic Jihad Organization was the name used by telephone callers demanding the departure of all Americans from Lebanon and taking responsibility for a number of kidnappings and of bombings in Lebanon which killed several hundred people. Their deadliest attacks were the 1983 Beirut barracks...
, a wing of Hezbollah that had taken credit for the kidnapping of the very Americans in Lebanon whom the Reagan administration sought to have released. The crash came on the fourth anniversary of another attack for which Islamic Jihad took credit: the near-simultaneous bombings of
six targets in KuwaitThe 1983 Kuwait bombings were attacks on six key foreign and Kuwaiti installations on December 12, 1983, two months after the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing. The 90-minute coordinated attack on two embassies, the country's main airport and petro-chemical plant, was more notable for the damage it was...
, the French and American Embassies among them. Members of Hezbollah had participated in, and were jailed for, those attacks, but most of the conspirators were members of al-Dawa. The accident was investigated by the Canadian Aviation Safety Board (CASB), and was determined to have been caused by the aircraft's unexpectedly high drag and reduced lift condition, which was most likely due to ice contamination, although a minority report stated as part of its conclusions that "Fire broke out on board while the aircraft was in flight, possibly due to a detonation in a cargo compartment".
Modifications in plans
Robert McFarlane resigned on December 5, 1985, citing that he wanted to spend more time with his family; he was replaced by Admiral
John PoindexterJohn Marlan Poindexter is a retired American naval officer and Department of Defense official. He was Deputy National Security Advisor and National Security Advisor for the Reagan administration. He was convicted in April 1990 of multiple felonies as a result of his actions in the Iran-Contra...
.
Two days later, Reagan met with his advisors at the White House, where a new plan was introduced. This one called for a slight change in the arms transactions: instead of the weapons going to the moderate Iranian group, they would go to moderate Iranian army leaders. As the weapons were delivered from Israel by air, the hostages held by Hezbollah would be released. Israel would still pay the United States for reimbursing the weapons. Though staunchly opposed by
Secretary of StateThe United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence. The current Secretary of...
George Shultz and
Secretary of DefenseThe United States Secretary of Defense is the head of the U.S. Department of Defense , concerned with the armed services and military matters. This position roughly corresponds to Minister of defense in other countries...
Caspar WeinbergerCaspar Willard "Cap" Weinberger , was an American politician, vice president and general counsel of Bechtel Corporation, and Secretary of Defense under President Ronald Reagan from January 21, 1981, until November 23, 1987, making him the third longest-serving defense secretary to date, after...
, the plan was authorized by Reagan, who stated that, "We were
not trading arms for hostages, nor were we negotiating with terrorists." Now retired National Security Advisor McFarlane flew to London to meet with Israelis and Ghorbanifar in an attempt to persuade the Iranian to use his influence to release the hostages before any arms transactions occurred; this plan was rejected by Ghorbanifar.
On the day of McFarlane's resignation,
Oliver NorthOliver Laurence North is a retired United States Marine Corps officer best known for his role in the Iran-Contra scandal. Currently, he is a political commentator, host of War Stories with Oliver North on Fox News Channel, and a New York Times best-selling author...
, a military aide to the
United States National Security CouncilThe White House National Security Council in the United States is the principal forum used by the President for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials and is part of the Executive Office of the President of the...
(NSC), proposed a new plan for selling arms to Iran, which included two major adjustments: instead of selling arms through Israel, the sale was to be direct, and a portion of the proceeds would go to
ContrasThe Contras is a label given to the various rebel groups opposing Nicaragua's FSLN Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction government following the July 1979 overthrow of Anastasio Somoza Debayle...
, or Nicaraguan guerilla fighters opposed to communism, at a markup. North proposed a $15 million markup, while contracted arms broker Ghorbanifar added a 41% markup of his own. Other members of the NSC were in favor of North's plan; with large support, Poindexter authorized it without notifying President Reagan, and it went into effect. At first, the Iranians refused to buy the arms at the inflated price because of the excessive markup imposed by North and Ghorbanifar. They eventually relented, and in February 1986, 1,000 TOW missiles were shipped to the country. From May to November 1986, there were additional shipments of miscellaneous weapons and parts.
Both the sale of weapons to Iran, and the funding of the Contras, attempted to circumvent not only stated administration policy, but also the
Boland AmendmentThe Boland Amendment was the name given to three U.S. legislative amendments between 1982 and 1984, all aimed at limiting US government assistance to the rebel Contras in Nicaragua...
. Administration officials argued that regardless of the Congress restricting the funds for the Contras, or any affair, the President (or in this case the administration) could carry on by seeking alternative means of funding such as private entities and foreign governments. Funding from one foreign country, Brunei, was botched when North's secretary,
Fawn HallFawn Hall was a secretary to Lt. Colonel Oliver North and a notable figure in the Iran-Contra affair, helping him shred confidential documents....
, transposed the numbers of North's Swiss bank account number. A Swiss businessman, suddenly $10 million richer, alerted the authorities of the mistake. The money was eventually returned to the Sultan of Brunei, with interest.
On January 7, 1986, John Poindexter proposed to the president a modification of the approved plan: instead of negotiating with the moderate Iranian political group, the U.S. would negotiate with moderate members of the Iranian government. Poindexter told Reagan that Ghorbanifar had important connections within the Iranian government, so with the hope of the release of the hostages, Reagan approved this plan as well. Throughout February 1986, weapons were shipped directly to Iran by the United States (as part of Oliver North's plan, without the knowledge of President Reagan) and none of the hostages were released. Retired National Security Advisor McFarlane conducted another international voyage, this one to Tehran. He met directly with the moderate Iranian political group that sought to establish U.S.-Iranian relations in an attempt to free the four remaining hostages. This meeting also failed. The members requested demands such as Israel's withdrawal from the
Golan HeightsThe Golan Heights is a strategic plateau and mountainous region at the southern end of the Anti-Lebanon Mountains and remains a highly contested land straddling the borders of Syria and Israel. Two-thirds of the area is currently governed by Israel...
, which the United States rejected.
Subsequent dealings
In late July 1986, Hezbollah released another hostage, Father Lawrence Martin Jenco, former head of Catholic Relief Services in Lebanon. Following this, William Casey, head of the CIA, requested that the U.S. authorize sending a shipment of small missile parts to Iranian military forces as a way of expressing gratitude. Casey also justified this request by stating that the contact in the Iranian government might otherwise lose face, or be executed, and hostages killed. Reagan authorized the shipment to ensure that those potential events would not occur.
In September and October 1986 three more Americans — Frank Reed, Joseph Ciccipio, Edward Tracy — were abducted in Lebanon by a separate terrorist group. The reasons for their abduction are unknown, although it is speculated that they were kidnapped to replace the freed Americans. One more original hostage, David Jacobsen, was later released. The captors promised to release the remaining two, but the release never happened.
Discovery and scandal
After a leak by Iranian radical
Mehdi HashemiMehdi Hashemi was an Iranian cleric and senior official in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards executed in the first decade of the Islamic Republic. Officially he was guilty of sedition, murder, and related charges, but others suspect his true crime was opposition to the regime's secret dealings with...
, the Lebanese magazine
Ash-ShiraaAsh-Shiraa is a Lebanese magazine. It was the first to report that the United States had been selling weapons to Iran, a scandal that was later revealed to have been part of an arms-for-hostages deal ....
exposed the arrangement on November 3, 1986. This was the first public reporting of the weapons-for-hostages deal. The operation was discovered only after an airlift of guns was downed over Nicaragua.
Eugene HasenfusEugene H. Hasenfus is a United States citizen who was an unemployed construction worker and former Marine from Marinette, Wisconsin who secured work as a cargo handler for the Central Intelligence Agency ....
, who was captured by Nicaraguan authorities, initially alleged in a press conference on Nicaraguan soil that two of his coworkers, Max Gomez and Ramon Medina, worked for the
Central Intelligence AgencyThe Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government.It is an independent agency responsible for providing national security intelligence to senior United States policymakers....
. He later said he did not know whether they did or not. The Iranian government confirmed the
Ash-Shiraa story, and ten days after the story was first published, President Ronald Reagan appeared on national television from the
Oval Office| |-| |-| |-| |-| |-| |-| |-| |-| |}The Oval Office is the official office of the President of the United States. Created in 1909 as part of an overall expansion of the West Wing of the White House during the administration of William Howard Taft, the office was inspired by the elliptical Blue Room...
on November 13 stating:
"My purpose was... to send a signal that the United States was prepared to replace the animosity between [the U.S. and Iran] with a new relationship... At the same time we undertook this initiative, we made clear that Iran must oppose all forms of international terrorism as a condition of progress in our relationship. The most significant step which Iran could take, we indicated, would be to use its influence in Lebanon to secure the release of all hostages held there."
The scandal was compounded when
Oliver NorthOliver Laurence North is a retired United States Marine Corps officer best known for his role in the Iran-Contra scandal. Currently, he is a political commentator, host of War Stories with Oliver North on Fox News Channel, and a New York Times best-selling author...
destroyed or hid pertinent documents between November 21 and November 25, 1986. During North's trial in 1989, his secretary,
Fawn HallFawn Hall was a secretary to Lt. Colonel Oliver North and a notable figure in the Iran-Contra affair, helping him shred confidential documents....
, testified extensively about helping North alter, shred, and remove official
United States National Security CouncilThe White House National Security Council in the United States is the principal forum used by the President for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials and is part of the Executive Office of the President of the...
(NSC) documents from the White House. According to
The New York Times, enough documents were put into a government shredder to jam it. North's explanation for destroying some documents was to protect the lives of individuals involved in
IranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanid period and came into international use from 1935, before which the country was known internationally as Persia...
and
ContraThe Contras is a label given to the various rebel groups opposing Nicaragua's FSLN Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction government following the July 1979 overthrow of Anastasio Somoza Debayle...
operations. It wasn't until years after the trial that North's notebooks were made public, and only after the
National Security ArchiveThe National Security Archive is a 501 non-governmental, non-profit research and archival institution located within The George Washington University in Washington, D.C.. Founded in 1985 by Scott Armstrong, it archives and publishes declassified U.S. government files concerning selected topics of...
and
Public Citizen-Introduction:Public Citizen is a non-partisan, politically left-of-center, non-profit public interest 'advocacy organization' based in Washington, D.C., with a branch in Austin, Texas...
sued the
Office of the Independent CouncilUnited States Office of the Independent Counsel was an independent prosecutor — distinct from the Attorney General of the United States Department of Justice — that provided reports to the Congress under . The office was terminated in 1999 and replaced by the U.S...
under the
Freedom of Information ActThe Freedom of Information Act , as amended, represents the implementation of freedom of information legislation in the United States. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 6, 1966 , and went into effect the following year...
.
During the trial North testified that on November 21, 22, or 24, he witnessed Poindexter destroy what may have been the only signed copy of a presidential covert-action finding that sought to authorize CIA participation in the November 1985
Hawk missileThe Raytheon MIM-23 HAWK is an American medium range surface-to-air missile. As a backronym, some consider HAWK to stand for Homing All the Way Killer. The HAWK was initially designed to destroy aircraft and was later adapted to destroy other missiles in flight. The missile entered service in 1960,...
shipment to Iran.
US Attorney GeneralThe United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The Attorney General is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government...
Edwin MeeseEdwin "Ed" Meese III is an attorney, law professor, and author who served in official capacities within the Ronald Reagan Gubernatorial Administration , the Reagan Presidential Transition Team , and the Reagan White House , eventually rising to hold the position of the 75th Attorney General of the...
admitted on November 25 that profits from weapons sales to Iran were made available to assist the Contra rebels in Nicaragua. On the same day, John Poindexter resigned, and Oliver North was fired by President Reagan. Poindexter was replaced by
Frank CarlucciFrank Charles Carlucci III is a former government official in the United States, associated with the Republican Party. He was United States Secretary of Defense from 1987 until 1989.-Early career:...
on December 2, 1986.
In his expose
Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA 1981–1987, journalist
Bob WoodwardRobert Upshur "Bob" Woodward is regarded as one of America's preeminent investigative reporters and non-fiction authors. He has worked for The Washington Post since 1971 as a reporter, and is currently an associate editor of the Post...
chronicles the role of the CIA in facilitating the transfer of funds from the Iran arms sales to the Nicaraguan Contras spearheaded by Oliver North. Then Director of the CIA,
William J. CaseyWilliam Joseph Casey was the Director of Central Intelligence from 1981 to 1987. In this capacity he oversaw the entire United States Intelligence Community and personally directed the Central Intelligence Agency....
, admitted to Woodward in February 1987 that he was aware of the diversion of funds to the contras confirming a number of encounters documented by Woodward. The admission occurred while Casey was hospitalized for a stroke. On May 6, 1987 William Casey died the day after Congress began its public hearings on the Iran-contra affair.
Tower Commission
On November 25, 1986, President Reagan announced the creation of a Special Review Board to look into the matter; the following day, he appointed former Senator
John TowerJohn Goodwin Tower was the first Republican United States senator from Texas since Reconstruction. He served from 1961 until his retirement in January 1985, after which time he was the chairman of the Reagan-appointed Tower Commission that investigated the Iran-Contra Affair.-Early life,...
, former Secretary of State
Edmund MuskieEdmund Sixtus "Ed" Muskie was an American Democratic politician from Maine. He served as Governor of Maine, as U.S. Senator, and as U.S. Secretary of State...
, and former National Security Adviser
Brent ScowcroftBrent Scowcroft was the United States National Security Advisor under Presidents Gerald Ford and George H. W. Bush and a Lieutenant General in the United States Air Force. He also served as Military Assistant to President Richard Nixon and as Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security...
to serve as members. This
Presidential CommissionIn the United States, a Presidential Commission is a special task force ordained by the President to complete some special research or investigation...
took effect on December 1 and became known as the "Tower Commission". The main objectives of the commission were to inquire into "the circumstances surrounding the Iran-Contra matter, other case studies that might reveal strengths and weaknesses in the operation of the National Security Council system under stress, and the manner in which that system has served eight different Presidents since its inception in 1947." The commission was the first presidential commission to review and evaluate the National Security Council.
President Reagan appeared before the Tower Commission on December 2, 1986, to answer questions regarding his involvement in the affair. When asked about his role in authorizing the arms deals, he first stated that he had; later, he appeared to contradict himself by stating that he had no recollection of doing so. In his 1990 autobiography,
An American LifeAn American Life is the 1990 autobiography authored by former American President Ronald Reagan. Released almost two years after President Reagan left office, the book reached number eight on The New York Times bestsellers list.-Content:...
, Reagan acknowledges authorizing the shipments to Israel.
The report published by the Tower Commission was delivered to the President on February 26, 1987. The Commission had interviewed 80 witnesses to the scheme, including Reagan, and two of the arms trade middlemen: Manucher Ghorbanifar and Adnan Khashoggi. The 200 page report was the most comprehensive of any released, criticizing the actions of Oliver North, John Poindexter, Caspar Weinberger, and others. It determined that President Reagan did not have knowledge of the extent of the program, especially not the diversion of funds to the Contras, although it argued that the President ought to have had better control of the National Security Council staff. The report heavily criticized Reagan for not properly supervising his subordinates or being aware of their actions. A major result of the Tower Commission was the consensus that Reagan should have listened to his National Security Advisor more, thereby placing more power in the hands of that chair.
The Democratic-controlled
United States CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election....
issued its own report on November 18, 1987, stating that "If the president did not know what his national security advisers were doing, he should have." The congressional report wrote that the president bore "ultimate responsibility" for wrongdoing by his aides, and his administration exhibited "secrecy, deception and disdain for the law." It also read in part: "The central remaining question is the role of the President in the Iran-contra affair. On this critical point, the shredding of documents by Poindexter, North and others, and the death of Casey, leave the record incomplete."
Aftermath
Reagan expressed regret regarding the situation during a nationally televised address from the White House Oval Office on March 4, 1987; Reagan had not spoken to the American people directly for three months amidst the scandal. President Reagan told the American people the reason why he did not update them on the scandal:
"The reason I haven't spoken to you before now is this: You deserve the truth. And as frustrating as the waiting has been, I felt it was improper to come to you with sketchy reports, or possibly even erroneous statements, which would then have to be corrected, creating even more doubt and confusion. There's been enough of that."
He then took full responsibility for the acts committed:
"First, let me say I take full responsibility for my own actions and for those of my administration. As angry as I may be about activities undertaken without my knowledge, I am still accountable for those activities. As disappointed as I may be in some who served me, I'm still the one who must answer to the American people for this behavior."
Finally, the president stated that his previous assertions that the U.S. did not trade arms for hostages were incorrect:
"A few months ago I told the American people I did not trade arms for hostages. My heart and my best intentions still tell me that's true, but the facts and the evidence tell me it is not. As the Tower board reported, what began as a strategic opening to Iran deteriorated, in its implementation, into trading arms for hostages. This runs counter to my own beliefs, to administration policy, and to the original strategy we had in mind."
Domestically, the scandal precipitated a drop in President Reagan's popularity as his approval ratings saw "the largest single drop for any U.S. president in history", from 67% to 46% in November 1986, according to a
New York Times/CBS News poll. The "Teflon President", as Reagan was nicknamed by critics, survived the scandal, however, and by January 1989 a Gallup poll was "recording a 64% approval rating," the highest ever recorded for a departing President at that time.
Internationally the damage was more severe.
Magnus RanstorpDr Magnus Ranstorp, born March 13, 1965 in Hästveda, is the Research Director of the Centre for Asymmetric Threat Studies at the Swedish National Defence College, directing a large funded project on Strategic Terrorist Threats to Europe which focuses on both radicalisation and recruitment of...
wrote, "U.S. willingness to engage in concessions with Iran and the Hezbollah not only signalled to its adversaries that hostage-taking was an extremely useful instrument in extracting political and financial concessions for the West but also undermined any credibility of U.S. criticism of other states' deviation from the principles of no-negotiation and no concession to terrorists and their demands."
In Iran
Mehdi HashemiMehdi Hashemi was an Iranian cleric and senior official in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards executed in the first decade of the Islamic Republic. Officially he was guilty of sedition, murder, and related charges, but others suspect his true crime was opposition to the regime's secret dealings with...
, the leaker of the scandal, was executed in 1987, allegedly for activities unrelated to the scandal. Though Hashemi made a full video confession to numerous serious charges, some observers find the coincidence of his leak and the subsequent prosecution highly suspicious.
Convictions, pardons, and reinstatements
Oliver North and John Poindexter were indicted on multiple charges on March 16, 1988. North, indicted on 16 counts, was found guilty by a jury of three minor counts. The convictions were vacated on appeal on the grounds that North's
Fifth AmendmentThe Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which is part of the Bill of Rights, protects against abuse of government authority in a legal procedure. Its guarantees stem from English common law which traces back to the Magna Carta in 1215...
rights may have been violated by the indirect use of his testimony to Congress which had been given under a grant of immunity. In 1990, Poindexter was convicted on several felony counts of
conspiracyIn the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future, and, in some cases, with at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement...
, lying to Congress,
obstruction of justiceThe crime of obstruction of justice includes crimes committed by judges, prosecutors, attorneys general, and elected officials in general. It is misfeasance, malfeasance or nonfeasance in the conduct of the office. Most commonly it is prosecuted as a crime for perjury by a non governmental official...
, and altering and destroying documents pertinent to the investigation. His convictions were also overturned on appeal on similar grounds.
Arthur L. LimanArthur L. Liman was a partner at the New York law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, and was well known for his public service.-Biography:...
served as chief counsel for the Senate during the Iran-Contra Affair.
The Independent Counsel,
Lawrence E. WalshLawrence Edward Walsh is an American lawyer and former judge and Deputy Attorney General who was appointed to the Office of the Independent Counsel in 1987 to investigate the Iran-Contra affair during the Reagan Administration....
, chose not to re-try North or Poindexter.
Caspar WeinbergerCaspar Willard "Cap" Weinberger , was an American politician, vice president and general counsel of Bechtel Corporation, and Secretary of Defense under President Ronald Reagan from January 21, 1981, until November 23, 1987, making him the third longest-serving defense secretary to date, after...
was indicted for lying to the Independent Counsel but was later pardoned by President
George H. W. BushGeorge Herbert Walker Bush was the 41st President of the United States . He was also Ronald Reagan's Vice President , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence....
.
In 1992 George H. W. Bush pardoned six convicted administration officials, namely
Elliott AbramsElliott Abrams is an American lawyer who has served in foreign policy positions for two Republican U.S. Presidents, Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. He currently serves as a Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and a member of the United States Holocaust...
, Duane R. Clarridge, Alan Fiers, Clair George, Robert McFarlane, and Caspar Weinberger.
George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush was the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 and the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000....
selected some individuals that served under Reagan for high-level posts in his presidential administration. They include:
- Elliott Abrams: under Bush, the Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director on the National Security Council for Near East and North African Affairs; in Iran-Contra, pleaded guilty on two counts of unlawfully withholding information, pardoned.
- Otto Reich
Otto Juan Reich , a Cuban-American, is former senior official in the administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush...
: head of the Office of Public DiplomacyThe Office of Public Diplomacy for Latin America and the Caribbean was an intra-agency organization established in the United States during the administration of Ronald Reagan....
under Reagan.
- John Negroponte
Hon. John Dimitri Negroponte is an American diplomat of Greek descent. He is currently a research fellow and lecturer in international affairs at Yale University's MacMillan Center...
: under Bush, served as the Ambassador to Iraq, the National Intelligence Director, and the Deputy Secretary of State.
- Admiral John Poindexter
John Marlan Poindexter is a retired American naval officer and Department of Defense official. He was Deputy National Security Advisor and National Security Advisor for the Reagan administration. He was convicted in April 1990 of multiple felonies as a result of his actions in the Iran-Contra...
: under Bush, Director of the Information Awareness OfficeThe Information Awareness Office was established by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in January 2002 to bring together several DARPA projects focused on applying information technology to counter asymmetric threats to national security...
; in Iran-Contra, found guilty of multiple felony counts for conspiracy, obstruction of justice, lying to Congress, defrauding the government, and the alteration and destruction of evidence, convictions reversed.
In Poindexter's hometown of
Odon, IndianaOdon is a town in Madison Township, Daviess County, Indiana, United States. The population was 1,376 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Odon is located at ....
, a street was renamed to John Poindexter Street. Bill Breeden, a former minister, stole the street's sign in protest of the Iran-Contra Affair. He claimed that he was holding it for a ransom of $30 million, in reference to the amount of money given to Iran to transfer to the Contras. He was later arrested and confined to prison, making him, as satirized by
Howard ZinnHoward Zinn is an American historian, political scientist, social critic, activist, playwright, and Democratic Socialist intellectual, best known as author of the bestseller A People's History of the United States....
, "the only person to be imprisoned as a result of the Iran-Contra affair."
See also
- Lebanon hostage crisis
The Lebanon hostage crisis refers to the systematic kidnapping in Lebanon of 96 foreign hostages of 21 national origins - mostly American and western European - between 1982 and 1992...
- Iran – United States relations
- United States and state terrorism
- CIA drug trafficking
It has been alleged that the United States Central Intelligence Agency is involved in drug smuggling, specifically in at least three significant episodes...
- Gary Webb
Gary Webb was a prize-winning American investigative journalist.Webb was best known for his 1996 "Dark Alliance" series of articles written for the San Jose Mercury News and later published as a book. In the three-part series, Webb investigated Nicaraguans linked to the CIA-backed Contras who had...
- Mistakes were made
"Mistakes were made" is an expression that is commonly used as a rhetorical device, whereby a speaker acknowledges that a situation was handled poorly or inappropriately but seeks to evade any direct admission or accusation of responsibility by using the passive voice...
- Nicaragua v. United States
- Nahum Manbar
Nahum Manbar is an Israeli businessman. He is currently serving time in prison for selling arms to Iran.-Career:Manbar was born in kibbutz Givat Haim in 1948. He served as an officer in the Paratroopers Brigade of the IDF. In 1984 he left Israel after several failed business ventures, and has...
- List of people pardoned by George H. W. Bush
External links