The
Iran–Contra affair (, ), also referred to as
Irangate,
Contragate or the
Iran–Contra scandal, was a
political scandal in the
United States that occurred during the second term of the
Reagan Administration. Senior administration officials secretly facilitated the sale of arms to
Iran, which was the subject of an
arms embargo. They hoped thereby to secure the release of several US
hostages
and to fund the
Contras in
Nicaragua. Under the
Boland Amendment, further funding of the Contras by the government had been prohibited by Congress.