IRAN IS SAID TO GET U.S. WEAPONS AID IN A HOSTAGE DEAL

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000100680011-8
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 20, 2011
• Sequence Number: 11
• Publication Date: November 7, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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Declassified and Approved For Release 2011/12/20: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100680011-8
ARTICLE APPFhR~D NEW YORK TIMES
ON PAGE 7 November 1986
IRAN IS SAID TO GET
U.S. WEAPONS AID
IN A HOSTAGE DEAL
By GERALD M. BOYD
Special to The New York Times
WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 - The United
States sent military spare parts to Iran
as part of a secret operation intended
to gain the release of American hos-
tages in Lebanon, American intelli-
gence sources said today. It also per-
suaded Israel to do the same, the
sources said.
The operation, which has been going
on for more than a year and a half, was
also intended to provide the Adminis-
tration with a way of addressing, and
perhaps influencing, relations between
Teheran and Washington once the rule
of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini ends,
another intelligence source said. He de-
scribed the effort as "prudent," an ap-
parent reference to Washington's de-
sire to help moderate elements gain
control of the Iranian Government.
The information on the operation fol-
lowed statements by Iranian officials
on Monday that Robert C. McFarlane,
the former national security adviser to
Mr. Reagan, had made a secret trip to
Teheran in an effort to gain the hos-
tages' release.
Terms Reports 'Fanciful'
A White House spokesman, Dan
Howard, described the embargo as a
"very technical business" and said he
did not know if it included spare parts.
In April 1980, President Jimmy Car-
ter expanded a November 1979 execu-
tive order freezing Iranian assets in
the United States to void any contracts
or licenses granted before that date in-
volving "the sale, supply or other
transfer" by any person in United
States jurisdiction of "items, commodi-
ties or products" to Iran except for
food, medicine and donated cloning.
The order does not specifically refer to
military spare parts.
Other Channels for Shipments
In addition to direct shipments by the
United States, the intelligence special-
ists said, the Administration sought to
encou~ ? e third parties to provide,
similar shipments, with one such chan-;
nel being Israel.
Neither the White House nor thei
State Department would indicate if di-
rect arms shipments to Iran violated
the arms embargo.
President Reagan declined to com-
ment when asked today if the United
States had made some sort of deal with
Iran to gain the hostages' release. Bu
he appealed to reporters not to specu
late, saying it was, `making it more dif
ficult for us in our effort get the other
hostages free."
Secretary of Defense Caspar W.
Weinberger told a group of reporters
today that the United states had no
changed its policy against supplying
h
l
h
.
oug
t
military spare parts to Iran. A
the United States has an official policy
of neutrality in the Iran-Iraq war, Mr.
Weinberger said it was not to Washing,
ton's advantage to have Teheran win'
its six-year-old war against Baghdad.
"There is no interest in helping Iran
win that war," he said. "It would be
very destabilizing to the whole region.
It would be very much against our in
terest for Iran to win that war."
Pete Roussel, a White House spokes-
man, said the United States had sys-
tematically urged other countries not
to sell arms to Iran, citing this as the
only effective way to bring Teheran
quickly to negotiate an end to the war.
T_he -ntelliQPncP sources said the
operation had been run. within the Na
tional Securit Council be ause of,
W h i t e House concern that word of the
plan would leak out of the Central Intel
it ce ARencv handled iL It was
feared that the C.I.A. would k==1
brief Con resstonal tnt 1!j en -
mittees an that Con~PSSional ofti-
cials would then disclose the lan the
sal
Mr. McFarlane, who has declined to
comment on the report, said today that
there had been "fanciful" reports on
his activities but added that he was not
able to correct the "considerable mis=
information" at this time.
"I'm in the awkward position of not
being able to comment on the reports,",
he told reporters after giving a speech:
in Highland Heights, Ohio. "They're'
very fanciful, largely fictitious issues.
And I'll comment on them when the
j time is appropriate."
Mr. McFarlane added that the pubiic
would soon learn that the Administra-i
tion had adhered to its policy of not
,providing arms to Iran as long as
Washington believes Iran aids terror-
ism.
Description of Operation
The intelligence specialists, who are
familiar with the shipments but who
asked not to be identified, described the
operation as one of several actions
taken by the Administration in a highly
secret program that was directed by a
small group in the National Security
Council at the White House.
In this operation, they said, the
United States provided the direct ship-
ment of parts that had been bought by
Iran but not sent after an arms em-
bargo was imposed in 1979.
One National Security Council offi-i
cial who is believed to have been in
volved is Lieut. Col. Oliver North, a
specialist in counterinsurgency and
terrorism, who Administration offi-
cials have said was in Cyprus last
weekend when David P. Jacobsen, on
of the American hostages, was re-
leased from Lebanon.
While officials would not indicate if
Mr. Reagan had approved such a plan,
it is unlikely that it would have been
put into effect had the President not
done so.
"This was a really solo operation," a
ranking Administration official said.
Better Relations With Military
He said that.there had been discus-
sion in the White House about the belief
that the Iranian military might be will-
ing to improve relations with the
United States in the hope of receiving
needed spare parts and that Washing-
ton could take advantage of this desire.
The sources said the operation had
generated some internal debate, with
the State Department, for example,
raising objections to a policy that es-
sentially involved trading arms for
hostages. One specific State Depart-
ment concern, they said, was that it
would incur the resentment of moder-
ate Arabs, who would become upset
that the United States was using Israel
to supply military equipment to the
fundamentalist Islamic leadership of
Iran.
The Los Angeles Times, quoting
anonymous Administration sources,
reported today that both Secretary of
State George P. Shultz and Mr. Wein-
berger were angered by the parts ship
ments.
The sources said that over the period
that the operation has been in place,
the Administration had, at times,
backed away from expediting the ship-
ments, but that in each instance the
plan was reinstated at White House
insistence, "because it worked," one
source said.
Iran's Mediation in Hijacking
According to the sources, the opera-
tion intensified after the hijacking in
June 1985 of a Trans World Airlines
airliner, when Iran intervened with the
Islamic Holy War group to free the
Americans who were being held
aboard. Iran's role became central
after Syria proved unable to influence
the Shiite faction in Lebanon, a turn of
events that served to reinforce the Ad'.
ministration's belief that Teheran held
the answer to gaining the release of the
other Americans in Lebanon.
While the Administration's policy
has been to reject making concessions
to or negotiating with terrorists, White
House officials have indicated that it i~
not opposed to conducting talks that
could gain the release of the remaining
American captives.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2011/12/20: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100680011-8
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2011/12/20: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100680011-8
The operation, howeveri would ap-
pear to contradict the Admnistration'
policy of not dealing with governments
that sponsor terrorism, as it has
charged Iran does.
One Iranian source said a plane had
arrived at Teheran's Mehrabad Air-
port at 5:30 A.M. on July 4 carrying an
American delegation and arms, appar-
ently as a part of the operation.
According the source, the Americans
were allowed into Iran under a secret
arrangement that involved Hojatolis-
lam Hashemi Rafsanjani, the Speaker
of the Iranian Parliament,
Speculation about Israel or Israeli
parties providing supplies to Iran have
been based on several reports, includ-
ing unconfirmed radio reports in Is-
rael. In September 1985, for example, a
DC-8 cargo plane flying from Iran to
Spain made an unscheduled landing in
Tel Aviv after reporting that it had de-
veloped communications trouble,
Turkish authorities said at the time. In
that month, the Rev. Benjamin Weir
was released.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2011/12/20: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100680011-8