IRAN ENVOY ADMITS RECEIVING U.S. ARMS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000303560045-7
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 1, 2010
• Sequence Number: 45
• Publication Date: November 13, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2010/09/01: CIA-RDP90-00552R000303560045-7
ARTICLE APKIW
ON PAGE m 1~-
WASHINGTON TIMES
13 November 1986
Iran. envoy admits
receiving U.S. arms
Jeremiah O'Leary
and John McCaslin
Iran's ambassador to the United
Nations yesterday admitted that his
country had received shipments of
U.S.-made weapons, but he denied
arms were traded for the release of
American hostages in Beirut.
"We did not have any arms deal, or
any other kind of deal, with regard
to the release of the hostages, with
the United States or an body else,"
Ambassador Said Raie-Khoras?
sani told a news confer ce in New
York.
Separately, President Reagan and
his top advisers got mixed reactions
from key lawmakers attending an
afternoon briefing on the reported
arms deals that have sparked anger
in Congress.
"My mind has not been changed,"
said Senate Democratic leader Rob-
ert Byrd, one of four lawmakers who
attended the two-hour White House
session.
Meanwhile, reports continued to
surface of U.S. arms stockpiles in
nations such as Spain and Italy
awaiting shipment to Iran for use in
that nation's six-year war with Iraq.
White House officials continued'
to decline comment, citing waning
hopes for the release of additional
Americans being held by pro-
Iranian terrorists in Beirut.
Ambassador Rajaie-Khorassani
left unclear whether the arms Iran
received came through the U.S. gov-
ernment.
"We buy our armaments from the
free market," he said. "Whether they
are delivered directly by the United
States on the basis of their debt to us
or we just bought them and carried
them home, as we have been doing
for the past seven years, that is un-
clear to me:'
But the administration reportedly
arranged shipments of spare parts
for Iran's aging fleet of U.S.-built
jets and military transport planes
that were purchased before the 1979
Islamic revolution. Several ship-
ments apparently coincided with the
release during the past year of three
hostages, David Jacobsen, the Rev.
Benjamin Weir and the Rev. Law-
rence Martin Jenco.
Rep. Dave: McCurdy, a senior
mein u e Inmulgence
tee, said the repwrted arms-
osage ea wou prompt more ag-
gressive congressional oversight o
U.S. covert activities.
t on ress will put its foot
down,v t e a oma Democrat
said." the NSC is going to fall un-
der the cloak o ecu the privilege
t en t o cannot be an i mDlemenj er
o is " he said ref
W its House National Security
Council, which arranged U.S. con-
- [actss wtt1ii rr an:
- he House Intelligence Commit-
tees-trying to arrange or an a m-in-
istration rte the affair
within the next week to 10 days. Mr.
Curdy said.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, Vermont
Democrat, said Congress will de-
mand a full explanation once the
100th Congress convenes in
anurary.
Mr. Leah vice chairman of the
Senate Intelligence Committee, said
he declined an otter to be nee by
phone r. Poindexter. "I to im
wasn't interested in the Mind of
ne ing a cou be nad over open
phone lines."
Lawmakers across the political
spectrum think the reports deal
The arms shipments and hostage
releases have, in turn, been linked to
clandestine attempts by the admin-
istration to restore diplomatic ties to
Iran that were severed following the
1979 seizure of the U.S. Embassy in
Tehran.
Despite the furor over reports of
an arms-hostage deal, a source close
to the negotiations described the
talks between the United States and P
held on and off for more than a
Iran
,
year, as a positive step toward reduc-
ing Tehran's support for Islamic ter-
rorist groups.
The talks focused on U.S. arms
purchased by Iran during the reign
of Shah Reza Pahlavi and im-
pounded by the United States in 1979
after the nation's current leader, the
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, took
control.
Arms shipments were tied to
"changes in Iranian policy," not the
release of American hostages held
captive in Lebanon, said the source.
"We laid out our terms and they
laid out theirs. It was bazaar diplo-
macy," said the source, likening the
talks to a shopping expedition.
News accounts linking the U.S.
arms sales directly to the release of
American hostages were "fanciful:'
the source said, and the arms ship-
ments involved were described as
minor.
Former National Security Ad-
viser Robert McFarlane, who led at-
tempts to re-establish contact with
Iran, compared the effort with se-
cret Nixon-era negotiations with
China.
Mr. McFarlane urged current Na-
tional Security Adviser John Poin-
dexter on Tuesday to publicly
disclose U.S. dealings with Iran.
White House officials, however,
postponed disclosure for at least one
week in the hope that at least two
other hostages, Associated Press re-
porter Terry Anderson and educator
Thomas Sutherland, would be freed,
sources said.
"We remain hopeful:' said White
House spokesman Larry Speakes,
who declined further comment.
Meanwhile, several members of
Congress who were not included in
the White House briefing sharply
criticized the administration for re-
fusing to disclose details about its
Iranian contacts.
with Iran was "one foul-up on top of
another," Mr. Leahy said.
Other lawmakers, however, indi-
cated they would withhold judg-
ment.
A spokesman for Sen. Richard
Lugar, chairman of the Senate For-
eign Relations Committee, said the
Indiana Republican was not con-
demning the White House plan out-
right because he "believes oper-
ations like this may be effective and
probably should be closely held."
But the spokesman said Mr. Lugar
"does have questions about how this
fits into our overall Middle East ef-
forts."
Rep. Henry J. Hyde, Illinois Re-
publican, said he talked to Mr. Poin-
dexter, "but I told him I thought I
understood what was going on and I
didn't want him to tell me anything.
I'll leave it that way until the admin-
istration thinks it's time to explain."
Mr. Poindexter, before attending a
Capitol Hill dinner last night, said,
"We thought all along our policy was
correct and we still do." He refused
to discuss the hostages or arms ship-
ments to Iran.
Of the four lawmakers at yester-
Continued
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 Approved For Release 2010/09/01: CIA-RDP90-00552R000303560045-7
day's White House briefing, Rep.
Richard Cheney, Wyoming Republi-
can, apparently accepted the admin-
istration's explanation.
Mr. Byrd was critical and two oth-
ers, Senate Republican Leader
Robert Dole and House Majority
Leader Jim Wright gave no indica-
tion one way or the other, said a
senior administration official.
In a separate development, for-
mer Attorney General Elliott Rich-
ardson said he arranged contact be-
tween U.S. officials and an Iranian
expatriate earlier this year in hopes
of winning the release of hostages in
Lebanon.
While Mr. Rajaie-Khorassani de-
nied any link between arms and hos-
tages, he left open the possibility
that Iran would aid the United States
in future hostage situations.
You know, I think if the United
States changes its policy toward the
Moslems of Lebanon, toward us, of
course we wouldn't mind offering
our good offices;' he said.
The ambassador also denied re-
ports that Israel had been involved
in shipments of U.S. arms to Iran.
But he left open the possibility that
the arms may have been shipped
through Israel without Iran's
knowledge.
Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon
Peres, interviewed on NBC's "1h-
day" show, declined to comment yes-
terday on his country's role in the
maneuverings.
But he said, "I believe nobody will
feel that Israel or the United States
is soft on terrorism."
This article is based in part on
wire service reports.
01,
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