irangate

listen to the pronunciation of irangate
English - English
a political scandal in 1987, when it was discovered that members of President Reagan's government had sold weapons to Iran in exchange for the return of US hostages (=people kept as prisoners by an enemy) , and had then used the profits to support the Contras, an unofficial army that was fighting the government in Nicaragua
{i} scandal that took place during the Reagan administration in which members of the executive branch secretly sold arms to Iran and illegally used the proceeds to continue financing an army of Nicaragua rebels