---
category: Country
summary: The Iran-Contra scandal erupted in November 1986 when it was revealed that
  the Reagan administration had sold missiles to Iran and diverted the profits to
  fund the Contra war in violation of congressional prohibitions.
tags:
- event
- contra-war
---

The [Iran-Contra scandal](/events/iran-contra-affair/) erupted in November 1986 when it was revealed that the [Reagan](/people/ronald-reagan/) administration had sold missiles to [Iran](/places/iran/) and diverted the profits to fund the [Contra](/organizations/contras/) war in violation of congressional prohibitions. The scandal exposed the [National Security Council](/organizations/national-security-council/)'s illegal covert operations and implicated senior officials including [Oliver North](/people/oliver-north/).[^1]

### The Scandal Breaks

The same morning that [Ricky Ross](/people/ricky-ross/)'s money launderer was writing to the IRS about Blandón's drug operations, President Ronald Reagan and Attorney General Edwin Meese were announcing to reporters that millions of dollars from missile sales to the Iranian government had been illegally diverted to the Contras. The Iran-Contra scandal was "bursting open at the seams," and suddenly the strange papers found in [Blandón](/people/danilo-blandon/)'s and [Ron Lister](/people/ron-lister/)'s houses during earlier raids took on new significance. The crash of a C-123K cargo plane over [Nicaragua](/places/nicaragua/) in October 1986, which had been based at Ilopango Air Base in [San Salvador](/places/san-salvador/), broke the scandal wide open.[^2]

[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 21.
[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 21.