Iran–Contra Affair
Iran–Contra Affair
The Iran-Contra affair is a political scandal that occurred during the second term of Ronald Reagan’s (1911–2004) presidency. The scandal encompassed two secret programs coordinated by the National Security Council: (1) the sale of arms to Iran in contravention of U.S. policy and without congressional approval; and (2) the diversion of the proceeds from the weapons sales to support the activities of the anticommunist Contra rebels in Nicaragua, in violation of the 1982 Boland Amendment ban on military aid.
In October 1986 the government of Nicaragua shot down an American cargo plane carrying military supplies to Contra forces and captured an American employee of the Central Intelligence Agency. One month later, a Lebanese news magazine, Ash-Shiraa, revealed a secret program for the sale and transfer of military weapons to Iran in exchange for the release of U.S. hostages being held in Lebanon. Iran, at war with Iraq for six years and in need of American-made military equipment, purchased weapons in exchange for securing the release of American hostages. In response to these reports, President Reagan denied on national television that any arms had been traded to Iran, but one week later he admitted the Iranian arms transfer occurred.
It was quickly discovered that the United States had begun negotiating with Iran in secret, while the country was allegedly neutral in the Iran-Iraq War and maintained a policy against trading for hostages. In early 1986 Reagan’s first national security adviser, Robert McFarlane, and his successor, Admiral John Poindexter, shipped weapons, including surface-to-air and antitank missiles, from Israel to Iran’s revolutionary government without congressional approval, diverting the proceeds from the sales to the Contras, who sought to overthrow the Sandinista government in Nicaragua. Reagan’s attorney general, Edwin Meese, was directed to investigate the arms sales and requested the appointment of an independent counsel. In December 1986 Lawrence E. Walsh was appointed to investigate the weapon sales and the process by which the proceeds were diverted to the Contras.
In December 1986 President Reagan appointed former Republican senator John Tower (1925–1991) to investigate the Iran-Contra affair and issue a report on the actions of the National Security Council. The Tower Commission Report found Poindexter responsible for authorizing the illegal sale of arms to Iran in exchange for the release of the U.S. hostages, as well as for the diversion of the profits to support the Contras. The report also named Marine colonel Oliver North as the main negotiator. Both the sale of weapons to Iran and the funding of the Contras were found to be in violation of Congress, particularly the Boland Amendment and the 1976 Arms Export Control Act. The report faulted President Reagan for not properly supervising his subordinates and stated that ultimate responsibility for the events were the president’s alone.
Poindexter and North were found guilty of obstruction of Congress, while Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger (1917–2006) was indicted for withholding information from the independent council. The convictions of Poindexter and North were later overturned on appeal. In 1992, following his electoral defeat to William Jefferson Clinton, President George H. W. Bush, who had served as vice president during the Iran-Contra scandal, issued presidential pardons to all who had been indicted.
SEE ALSO Iran-Iraq War; Reagan, Ronald
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Office of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters (Lawrence E. Walsh, independent counsel). 1993. Final Report of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters. 3 vols. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
President’s Special Review Board (John Tower, chairman). 1987. Tower Commission Report: The Full Text of the President’s Special Review Board. New York: Bantam.
Reagan, Ronald. 1986. Address to the Nation on the Iran Arms and Contra Aid Controversy, November 13. Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1986/111386c.htm.
James E. Freeman