What Was The Iran-Contra Affair?

The Iran-Contra affair was a political scandal which dominated the last two years of the Reagan presidency in America. It was a complex series of trades and transactions which, from the American perspective, served two primary purposes : to gain the release of Americans who were being held hostage in the Middle East; and to offer financial support to the guerrilla army, known as the Contras, which was fighting against the leftist government of Nicaragua.

The arrangement involved Israel selling American-made weapons to Iran, with America then replacing the weapons which been given up by Israel. Money from the transaction would be used to fund the Contra army in Latin America. In return for the weapons, Iran was supposed to use its influence to persuade terrorist groups in Lebanon to release their American hostages.

America had publicly vowed not to deal with terrorists, and the U.S. congress had banned aid to the Contras, so the whole affair had to be conducted in secret; however, a story in a Lebanese magazine, and the shoot-down of a CIA-owned plane in Nicaragua, led to the operation's public exposure.