20 Planes Carried Arms, Paper Says
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LONDON — The Times of London reported Friday that the United States had sent Iran 20 planeloads of weapons and spare parts in its secret arms deal with Tehran.
The newspaper quoted “very reliable sources” as saying the weapons, which included parts for tanks, arrived in Iran while former White House national security adviser Robert C. McFarlane was secretly visiting Tehran.
President Reagan said Nov. 13 that he had authorized “the transfer of small amounts of defensive weapons” to Iran.
The paper added that five of the most prominent figures in Iran, including the son of the nation’s supreme leader, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, arranged for McFarlane’s visit.
It said Iran’s Parliament Speaker, Hashemi Rafsanjani, only told Khomeini of McFarlane’s visit once the American envoy had already arrived in Iran.
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