Iran–Contra Affair Worksheets
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Table of Contents
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Summary
- Historical Background
- Reagan and Iran–Contra
- Investigation into Iran–Contra Affair
- Aftermath of the Iran-Contra Affair
Key Facts And Information
Let’s know more about the Iran–Contra Affair!
The Iran–Contra Affair of the 1980s was a result of the Reagan Administration’s foreign policy towards Nicaragua and Iran, which appeared to be unrelated. The Reagan Administration held the belief that the alterations that took place in these nations during the 1970s were a threat to the national interests of the United States (US). The Sandinistas, a socialist movement, gained control of Nicaragua through a revolution in 1979.
The Reagan Administration, concerned about the potential proliferation of socialism in Latin America, ultimately supported paramilitary groups (known as the contras) aiming to topple this revolutionary government. The section on Nicaragua provides a concise overview of US policy towards the region since the 19th century.
Headline by the e Register-Mail about the Iran–Contra Affair
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
- The US became the largest seller of firearms and other kinds of weapons to Iran under the leadership of Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. To continue the objective of having an established arsenal, Iran continued to buy firearms and weapons from the US. In November 1979, Iranian students rallied in the US Embassy in Tehran and held Americans hostage. This incident led Jimmy Carter, US President at the time, to impose an arms embargo on Iran.
- In the aftermath of Iraq’s invasion of Iran in September 1980, Iran faced an urgent need for weaponry and spare components to maintain its existing arsenal. Following his inauguration on 20 January 1981, US President Ronald Reagan committed to upholding Carter’s policy of prohibiting arms sales to Iran due to the fact that Iran supported terrorism.
- In July 1981, an investigation was carried out by a group of high-ranking officials from the Reagan Administration known as the Senior Interdepartmental Group. It was determined that the arms embargo imposed on Iran was ineffective due to Iran’s ability to procure arms and spare parts for its US weapons from alternative sources.
- Additionally, it was then found that the arms embargo had the unintended consequence of potentially aligning Iran with the Soviet Union. The investigation concluded that the US should promptly commence the sale of armaments to Iran as soon as it became politically feasible, with the aim of preventing Iran from succumbing to the Soviet sphere of influence.
- In 1983, the United States Department of State initiated Operation Staunch, a comprehensive diplomatic endeavour aimed at convincing states worldwide to refrain from selling weapons or military weapons to Iran. This was one of the main reasons why the Iran–Contra Affair was extremely embarrassing for the US when it was first revealed in November 1986 that the US was actually transferring weapons to Iran.
- Simultaneously, while the US government was deliberating its choices over the sale of weapons to Iran, Contra insurgents stationed in Honduras were engaging in a guerrilla conflict aimed at overthrowing the Sandinista National Liberation Front revolutionary administration in Nicaragua.
- Since assuming office in 1981, the Reagan Administration had consistently aimed to depose the left-wing Sandinista government in Nicaragua and provide assistance to the Contra rebels. The Reagan Administration’s approach to Nicaragua led to a significant conflict between the executive and legislative branches. Congress attempted to restrict, if not completely restrain, the White House’s capacity to assist the Contras.
- The Boland Amendment, a series of three US congressional amendments enacted between 1982 and 1984, prohibited direct US funding of the Contras rebellion. Its purpose was to restrict US government assistance to Contra insurgents. By 1984, the financial support for the Contras had been depleted, and in October of that same year, a complete prohibition was implemented.
- On 5 October 1986, the Nicaraguan military intercepted and destroyed an aircraft piloted by an American, which was transporting weapons provided by the United States for the Contra guerrillas. The event exposed a secret scheme by the US government to trade weapons with Iran and subsequently redirect the proceeds to support Nicaragua’s Contra fighters.
- These acts sparked the notorious Iran–Contra Affair and ultimately generated concerns about the boundaries of executive powers, as well as the potential involvement of President Reagan in the development of the arms sale scheme as a whole.
REAGAN AND IRAN–CONTRA
- While it is indisputable that Reagan approved of the exchange of missiles for hostages in Iran, there is no substantiated proof that the president was aware of Oliver North’s redirection of funds from the missile sales to the Nicaraguan Contras. Some criticised Reagan’s laissez-faire approach to administration for its role in the Iran–Contra Affair.
- Reagan focused on overarching strategic plans in both home and foreign policy, delegating the execution of specific tasks to others. However, this administrative strategy appeared to result in significant, and some argued, impeachable, repercussions in the Iran–Contra Affair. Reagan acquired the moniker of the Teflon president due to his ability to evade scandals without any negative impact on his public approval.
- Reagan stated that these Iranians aimed to build a discreet rapport with the US, with the intention of formalising their partnership after the demise of the elderly Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Iranian leader. According to Reagan, Robert McFarlane, a US government official, informed him that the Iranians had made an offer to convince Hezbollah, a paramilitary group, to free the seven American captives as a way to show their commitment.
- McFarlane convened with the Israeli intermediary; Reagan asserted that he permitted this meeting due to his conviction that forging ties with a geographically advantageous nation and thwarting the Soviet Union from doing so would be advantageous.
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
- Reagan asserted that the arms sales were directed towards a moderate element within Iran. However, the Walsh Iran–Contra Report affirms that the arms shipments were specifically targeted towards Iran as a whole, which was governed by the Ayatollah. After the Israeli–US summit, Israel sought approval from the US to supply a limited quantity of BGM-71 TOW anti-tank missiles to Iran.
- Israel argued that this would support the moderate Iranian faction by proving their strong ties to the US government. Initially, Reagan declined the plan but changed his mind after Israel provided the US with evidence demonstrating that the moderate Iranians were against terrorism and had actively fought against it.
- With newfound confidence in the moderates, Reagan authorised the transaction, originally intended to involve Israel and the moderates in Iran, with the US assuming the responsibility of reimbursing Israel. The president urged the moderate Iranians to use all of their abilities to secure the release of the hostages held by Hezbollah.
- Reagan consistently maintained in public, following the revelation of the scandal in late 1986, that the objective of the arms-for-hostages trade was to establish a cooperative connection with the moderate faction linked to Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
- Reagan intended to facilitate the restoration of the alliance between the US and Iran after the anticipated demise of Khomeini, as well as to bring an end to the Iran–Iraq War and halt Iranian backing of Islamic terrorism. Reagan downplayed the significance of freeing the hostages in Lebanon, considering it a secondary matter. In contrast, during his testimony before the Tower Commission, Reagan explicitly said that the primary motive behind the arms sales to Iran was the hostage situation. The New York Times mentioned in its article ‘Arms, Hostages and Contras: How a Secret Foreign Policy Unraveled’, published in 1987, that the following arms were supplied to Iran:
- 20 August 1985 - 96 TOW anti-tank missiles
- 14 September 1985 - 408 more TOWs
- 24 November 1985 - 18 Hawk anti-aircraft missiles
- 17 February 1986 - 500 TOWs
- 27 February 1986 - 500 TOWs
- 24 May 1986 - 508 TOWs, 240 Hawk spare parts
- 4 August 1986 - More Hawk spares
- 28 October 1986 - 500 TOWs
INVESTIGATION INTO IRAN–CONTRA AFFAIR
- President Reagan declared on 25 November 1986 the establishment of a Special Review Board to investigate the issue. The next day, he designated former Senator John Tower, former Secretary of State Edmund Muskie, and former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft as members of the board. The Tower Commission, officially established on 1 December, was formed as a result of this Presidential Commission.
- The primary goals of the Commission were to investigate the circumstances surrounding the Iran–Contra Affair, other instances that could expose the effectiveness and flaws of the National Security Council (NSC) system during challenging situations, and how this system had functioned under eight different presidents since its establishment in 1947.
- The Tower panel was the inaugural presidential panel tasked with scrutinising and assessing the NSC. On 2 December 1986, President Reagan testified before the Tower Commission to address inquiries about his role in the matter. When questioned about his involvement in approving the arms transactions, he initially affirmed that he had done so; yet, later on, he seemed to contradict himself by claiming that he had no memory of such authorisation.
Reagan (middle) together with Tower (left) during the investigation of the Tower Commission
- In his 1990 autobiography, An American Life, Reagan acknowledges authorising the shipments to Israel. Due to its restricted authority, the Commission could not issue subpoenas for records, compel testimony, or provide immunity from prosecution. During many weeks, the Commission gathered testimony from 86 individuals and managed to recover duplicate copies from an NSC mainframe of some files that NSC officials had attempted to erase.
- The Commission’s report, released on 26 February 1987, attributed Reagan’s slack managerial style and aloofness from policy detail to him. On 4 March 1987, President Ronald Reagan delivered a televised speech in which he discussed the findings of the report. Several individuals included in the report expressed dissatisfaction with the way they were depicted.
AFTERMATH OF THE IRAN–CONTRA AFFAIR
- Reagan conveyed his remorse about the situation in a televised statement from the Oval Office on 4 March 1987, as well as in two more remarks. The exact extent of Reagan’s involvement in these transactions remains uncertain. The extent of Reagan’s knowledge and timing, as well as the underlying motivation for the arms shipments in relation to the US hostages, remains uncertain. Within the country, the scandal caused a decline in President Reagan’s public approval.
- According to a CBS News poll, Reagan’s approval ratings experienced the most significant decline ever recorded for a US president, plummeting from 67% to 46% in November 1986. Despite being dubbed the Teflon president by his critics, Reagan managed to weather the scandal and ultimately regain his high approval rating. Mehdi Hashemi, the individual who disclosed the fraud, was executed in Iran in 1987. It is believed that his execution was not directly related to the incident. Despite Hashemi’s comprehensive video confession to multiple grave accusations, certain observers perceive the timing of his disclosure and the accompanying legal action as very dubious.
- North gained public attention due to his involvement in the Iran–Contra Affair, where he admitted to being partially responsible for the sale of weapons to Iran through intermediaries. The revenues from these sales were then directed towards supporting the Contras in Nicaragua. In July 1987, North was subpoenaed to provide testimony during televised proceedings of a joint congressional committee established to investigate the Iran–Contra Affair.
- During the proceedings, North confessed to deceiving Congress, for which, in addition to other activities, he was subsequently indicted. He justified his activities by asserting his belief in supporting the Contras, whom he regarded as freedom fighters fighting the Sandinistas. North confessed to destroying official government records pertaining to these operations on the advice of William Casey following the exposure of the Iran–Contra Affair.
- In addition, he provided testimony stating that McFarlane had requested him to modify official records by removing any mention of direct support to the Contras, and he willingly complied with this request. North was formally charged in March 1988 with 16 serious criminal offences.
- The trial commenced in February 1989, and on 4 May 1989, he was initially found guilty of three charges: taking an illicit gratuity, assisting and encouraging the obstruction of a congressional probe, and instructing his secretary, Fawn Hall, to destroy records. On 5 July 1989, US District Judge Gerhard Gesell imposed a three-year suspended prison term, two years of probation, $150,000 in fines and 1,200 hours of community service as a penalty.
Image Sources
- https://www.galesburg.com/story/news/2018/09/04/iran-contra-affair-dominates-1987/10854058007/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Akbar_Hashemi_Rafsanjani_by_Fars_01_(cropped).jpg
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Photograph_of_President_Reagan_receiving_the_Tower_Commission_Report_in_the_Cabinet_Room_-_NARA_-_198581.jpg
Frequently Asked Questions
- What was the Iran–Contra Affair?
The Iran–Contra Affair was the US' secret sale of arms to Iran, which was then embroiled in the Iran-Iraq War, and the diversion of the proceeds from these sales to fund Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
- When did the Iran–Contra Affair take place?
The events primarily occurred between 1985 and 1987, although investigations and political fallout continued into the early 1990s.
- Why did the Reagan Administration sell arms to Iran?
The Reagan Administration aimed to secure the release of American hostages held by Hezbollah in Lebanon, which had ties to Iran. Additionally, some officials hoped to improve U.S.-Iranian relations.