WHITE HOUSE SAYS C.I.A. HAD A ROLE IN IRAN OPERATION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000201830022-7
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 28, 2012
• Sequence Number: 22
• Publication Date: November 15, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/29: CIA-RDP90-00965R000201830022-7
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WHITE HOUSE SAYS
C.I.A. HAD A ROLE
IN IRAN OPERATION
By STEPHEN ENGELBERG
Special to The New York Times
WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 - The Ad-
ministration acknowledged today for
the first time that the Central Intelli-
gence Agency had been directly in-
volved in the secret arms shipments to
Iran.
The White House spokesman, Larry
Speakes, said at a briefing that the Na-
tional Security Council staff ran the
operation "in conjunction with the
C.I.A." and that an agency operative
attended each meeting with the Ira-
nians.
In Teheran, the Iranian President
denied today that his Government had
held talks with the United States at a
diplomatic level, and he dismissed
President Reagan's report Thursday of
negotiations as "mere lies."
Continued Criticism
In Washington, Mr. Reagan's de-
fense of the White House's secret
policy of conducting talks and sending
military equipment to Iran continued
to draw criticism today from both Re-
publicans and Democrats.
Congressional officials said they
would demand an explanation for why
they were not briefed until 11 months
after President Reagan incorporated
the new policy in secret financing.
Although Congressional officials said
they were not briefed, the Administra-
tion is required to inform Congress of
any significant expected C.I.A. intelli-
gence activities. The requirement is
contained in laws enacted in the 1970's
after Congressional investigations of
C.I.A. abuses.
A Possible Loophole
But President Reagan said in his
speech Thursday night that under the!
1947 National Security Act, he had the
right to delay briefing Congress until
the operation was over. That law was
cited in the President's classified exec-
utive order last January, which put the
plan in place, according to a source
who has seen the document.
Congressional officials said, how-
ever, that they have begun extensive
research into the laws regarding con-
gressional oversight. Senator Patrick
r Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, said he
was particularly concerned by the 11-
month delay in briefing Congress. He
said the provision of the act cited by the
President appeared to him to apply to
NEW YORK TIMES
15 November 1986
extraordinary circumstances of a brief
duration.
Congressional aides and members of
Congress said they also want a detailed
accounting of the amount and value of
weapons shipped to Iran by the United
States or by third parties at American
instigation.
The information would be crucial in
assessing the Adminstration's conten-
tion that the deliveries did not violate
American law and could not have af-
fected the progress of the Iran-Iraq
war.
Mr. Reagan's classified executive or-
der formally approving the Iran opera-
tion said Congress would not be told of
the operation because of the "extreme
sensitivity" and because of the "se-
curity risks" involved, according to a
source who has seen it.
Administration officials have said
that only "defensive" weapons, such as
spare parts for anti-aircraft batteries,
were shipped to Iran. But some mili-
tary experts said that even small im-
provements in the Iranians' anti-air-
craft capabilities could be critical in
blunting the main Iraqi strategic ad-
vantage, which is in mounting air at-
tacks against key economic targets.
"The Iraqi Air Force is not famous
for its bravery," said Thomas
McNaugher of the Brookings Institu-
tion. "All you have to do to throw off
their aim is upset them a little at the
margins."
An Iraqi source said, "What has been
shipped would have to be crucial to the
Iranians, or they wouldn't have struck
a deal. They .never accept less than
they need in such things." This source
said the Iraqi military has in recent
months detected improvements in the
capabilities of Iranian antiaircraft
gunners defending the Kharg Island oil
installation.
Various Channels Reported
According to accounts from Israeli
and American officials, the shipments
to Iran moved through several chan-
nels, some supervised by the United
States, others by the Israelis, who say
they in turn received replacements
from American stocks.
President Reagan, in his speech, dis-
puted various reports of United States-
sponsored shipments to Iran, but said
nothing about reports of a series of
shipments by Israel.
In a televised interview today, White
House Chief of Staff Donald T. Regan
said: "We have never authorized,
never allowed, never condoned large
shipments by anyone, by Far Eastern-
ers, Mideasterners, Europeans, Israe-
lis or anyone. We do not want large
amounts of arms being shipped to ei-
ther Iran or Iraq."
Mr. Regan did not define what he
meant by "large" amounts of weapons.
In a briefing Thursday, a senior Ad-
ministration official characterized the
shipments as "minuscule," saying they
could be fit onto a C-5 cargo plane,
which can carry more than 100 tons.
Additionally, a high-level Israeli offi-
cial disclosed that Israel had been ship-
ping arms to Iran with American
knowledge since 1982. This official said
the American Ambassador to Israel
was routinely notified of the nature of
each shipment. This suggests that the
United States was tacitly approving
violations of its arms embargo on ship-
ments to Iran well before mid-1985,
when the first secret contacts with Iran
were made by presidential advisers.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/29: CIA-RDP90-00965R000201830022-7