The Iran-Contra Affair

On October 5, 1986, Nicaraguan government forces shot down an American plane loaded with supplies for the country's rebel forces, the Contras. One month later, Middle Eastern journalists broke a story about a secret trip made by members of President Ronald Reagan's administration to Iran. They had gone there to discuss the sale of missiles in exchange for the release of American hostages held in Lebanon. The world soon learned how these two seemingly unrelated events were linked, and...
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On October 5, 1986, Nicaraguan government forces shot down an American plane loaded with supplies for the country's rebel forces, the Contras. One month later, Middle Eastern journalists broke a story about a secret trip made by members of President Ronald Reagan's administration to Iran. They had gone there to discuss the sale of missiles in exchange for the release of American hostages held in Lebanon. The world soon learned how these two seemingly unrelated events were linked, and the resulting scandal came to be known as the Iran-Contra affair.