Editing Iran–Contra affair (section)

{{Short description|1985–1987 political scandal in the U.S.}}
{{Good article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Use American English|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox historical event
| Event_Name = Iran–Contra affair
| Image_Name = President Ronald Reagan meets with aides on Iran-Contra (cropped).jpg
| partof = the [[Iran–Iraq War]] and the [[Cold War (1985–1991)|end of the Cold War]]
| Image_Caption = Reagan (on the far right) meets with (left to right) Secretary of Defense [[Caspar Weinberger]], Secretary of State [[George Shultz]], Attorney General [[Ed Meese]], and Chief of Staff [[Donald Regan]] in the [[Oval Office]]
| AKA = Iran–Contra scandal, Iran Initiative, Iran–Contra
| Participants = [[Presidency of Ronald Reagan#Administration|Reagan administration]], particularly [[Robert McFarlane (American politician)|Robert McFarlane]], [[Caspar Weinberger]], [[Hezbollah]], [[Contras]], [[Oliver North]], [[Manucher Ghorbanifar]], [[John Poindexter]], [[Manuel Antonio Noriega]]
| Date = {{Start date|df=yes|1985|8|20}} – {{End date|df=yes|1987|3|4}}
}}
The '''Iran–Contra affair''' ({{langx|fa|ماجرای ایران-کنترا}}; {{langx|es|Caso Irán-Contra}}), also referred to as the '''Iran–Contra scandal''', the '''Iran Initiative''', or simply '''Iran–Contra''', was a [[political scandal]] in the United States that centered around [[arms trafficking]] to [[Islamic Republic of Iran|Iran]] between 1981 and 1986, facilitated by senior officials of the [[Presidency of Ronald Reagan|Ronald Reagan administration]]. As Iran was subject to an [[arms embargo]] at the time of the scandal, the sale of arms was deemed [[Illicit trade|illegal]].<ref>[http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB210/ ''The Iran-Contra Affair 20 Years On''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150320063803/http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB210/ |date=20 March 2015 }}. The National Security Archive (George Washington University), 2006-11-24</ref> The administration hoped to use the proceeds of the arms sale to fund the [[Contras]], an anti-[[Sandinista National Liberation Front|Sandinista]] rebel group in [[Nicaragua]]. Under the [[Boland Amendment]], passed by Congress in a 411-0 vote and signed into law by Reagan, further funding of the Contras by legislative appropriations was prohibited by [[United States Congress|Congress]], but the Reagan administration continued funding them secretively using non-appropriated funds.

The administration's justification for the arms shipments was that they were part of an attempt to free [[Lebanon hostage crisis|seven U.S. hostages]] being held in [[Lebanon]] by [[Hezbollah]], an Islamist paramilitary group with Iranian ties connected to the [[Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps]].<ref name="reagan no-bbc">{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/213195.stm|title=Reagan's mixed White House legacy|date=6 June 2004|access-date=22 April 2008|publisher=BBC|archive-date=9 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110209052941/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/213195.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> The idea to exchange arms for hostages was proposed by [[Manucher Ghorbanifar]], an expatriate Iranian arms dealer.<ref name="plain-and-simple"/><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uYZA3d2I82sC&dq=ghorbanifar+arms+hostages&pg=PA60|title=Saving the Reagan Presidency: Trust Is the Coin of the Realm|last=Abshire|first=David|year=2005|publisher=Texas A&M University Press|isbn=9781603446204|access-date=19 March 2023|archive-date=11 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230411121031/https://books.google.com/books?id=uYZA3d2I82sC&dq=ghorbanifar+arms+hostages&pg=PA60|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Valentine|first1=Douglas|title=Reagan, Bush, Gorbachev: Revisiting the End of the Cold War|date=2008|publisher=Praeger Security International|isbn=9780313352416|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r71u_AgE7iYC&dq=ghorbanifar+arms+hostages&pg=PA82|access-date=19 March 2023|archive-date=5 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405193201/https://books.google.com/books?id=r71u_AgE7iYC&dq=ghorbanifar%20arms%20hostages&pg=PA82|url-status=live}}</ref> Some within the Reagan administration hoped the sales would influence Iran to get Hezbollah to release the hostages.

After the Lebanese magazine ''[[Ash-Shiraa]]'' reported on the weapon dealings in November 1986, it broke international news, causing Reagan to appear on national television. He claimed that while the weapons transfers had indeed occurred, the U.S. did not trade arms for hostages.<ref name=reaganspeech>{{cite web|last=Reagan|first=Ronald|author-link=Ronald Reagan|title=Address to the Nation on the Iran Arms and Contra Aid Controversy|publisher=Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation|date=13 November 1986|url=http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1986/111386c.htm|access-date=7 June 2008|archive-date=6 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306030425/https://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1986/111386c.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> The investigation was impeded when large volumes of documents relating to the affair were destroyed or withheld from investigators by Reagan administration officials.<ref name="Excerpts from Iran-Contra Report">{{Cite news|title=Excerpts From the Iran-Contra Report: A Secret Foreign Policy|work=The New York Times|year=1994|url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/97/06/29/reviews/iran-transcript.html|access-date=7 June 2008|archive-date=10 April 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090410071727/http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/06/29/reviews/iran-transcript.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In March 1987, Reagan made a further nationally televised address, saying he was taking full responsibility for the affair and stating that "what began as a strategic opening to Iran deteriorated, in its implementation, into trading arms for hostages."<ref name=reaganspeech-tower>{{cite web |last=Reagan |first=Ronald |author-link=Ronald Reagan |title=Address to the Nation on the Iran Arms and Contra Aid Controversy |publisher=Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation |date=1987-03-04 |url=http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1987/030487h.htm |access-date=7 June 2008 |archive-date=3 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141003041031/http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1987/030487h.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

The affair was investigated by Congress and by the three-person, Reagan-appointed [[Tower Commission]]. Neither investigation found evidence that President Reagan himself knew of the extent of the multiple programs.<ref name="reagan no-bbc"/> Additionally, [[U.S. Deputy Attorney General]] [[Lawrence Walsh]] was appointed [[United States Office of the Independent Counsel|independent counsel]] in December 1986 to investigate possible criminal actions by officials involved in the scheme. In the end, several dozen administration officials were indicted, including Secretary of Defense [[Caspar Weinberger]] and [[Lieutenant colonel]] [[Oliver North]]. Eleven convictions resulted, some of which were vacated on appeal.<ref>{{Cite news|work=Business Week |url=http://www.businessweek.com/1997/25/b353254.htm |title=Pointing a Finger at Reagan |access-date=22 April 2008 |author=Dwyer, Paula |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080416182515/http://www.businessweek.com/1997/25/b353254.htm |archive-date=16 April 2008 }}</ref> The rest of those indicted or convicted were all pardoned in the final days of the [[presidency of George H. W. Bush]], who had been vice president at the time of the affair.<ref name="ghwbush-pardons">{{cite web |url=https://www.justice.gov/pardon/ghwbush-pardons |title=Pardons Granted by President George H. W. Bush (1989–1993) |date=12 January 2015 |access-date=22 December 2020 |publisher=U.S. Department of Justice |archive-date=23 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201223060117/https://www.justice.gov/pardon/ghwbush-pardons |url-status=dead }}</ref> Former Independent Counsel Walsh noted that, in issuing the pardons, Bush appeared to have been preempting being implicated himself by evidence that came to light during the Weinberger trial and noted that there was a pattern of "deception and obstruction" by Bush, Weinberger, and other senior Reagan administration officials.<ref name=Firewall>{{cite book |first=Lawrence E. |last=Walsh |title=Firewall: The Iran-Contra Conspiracy and Cover-up |location=New York |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |date=1997 |page=290}}</ref> Walsh submitted his final report on 4 August 1993{{Sfn|Walsh|1993}} and later wrote an account of his experiences as counsel, ''Firewall: The Iran-Contra Conspiracy and Cover-Up''.<ref name=Firewall/>