Iran-Contra Affair
The Iran-Contra Affair was a political scandal in the 1980s in the United States. It involved two main actions: the illegal sale of arms to Iran, which was under an arms embargo, and the diversion of the profits from those sales to support Contra rebels in Nicaragua, fighting against a Sandinista government. This was controversial because Congress had prohibited military aid to the Contras. The affair raised significant questions about government transparency and the limits of executive power, leading to investigations and convictions of several officials in the Reagan administration.
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The Iran-Contra Affair was a political scandal in the 1980s involving the U.S. government. It emerged from two main actions: secretly selling arms to Iran, which was under an arms embargo, to secure the release of American hostages held by Hezbollah, and using the profits from those sales to fund Contra rebels in Nicaragua, despite Congress prohibiting such support. This covert operation, revealed in 1986, raised significant legal and ethical concerns, leading to investigations and reorganizing the balance of power between the executive and legislative branches in U.S. politics.