Top Secret Data Given to Iran by North, Sources Say

Lt. Col. Oliver L. North, the fired National Security Council aide, gave Iran top secret intelligence information that was not supposed to be shared with foreigners, according to messages that investigators have retrieved from the NSC computer system, informed sources said Thursday.

President Reagan authorized limited sharing of intelligence with Iran on Jan. 17, 1986, when he secretly approved selling arms to Tehran. But two sources said the evidence in the computer messages discloses that North passed data from secret and top secret intelligence that was designated “NOFORN,” meaning it was not to be seen by any foreign national.

As an NSC staff aide, North had access to some of the most sensitive intelligence on the continuing Iran-Iraq war, and one source said investigators have discovered that North in at least two instances provided the classified information during meetings with Iranian middlemen in the arms sales.

It is unclear precisely what type of intelligence North provided, although one knowledgeable source said the information would have aided Iran in its seven-year war with Iraq.

‘His Own Covert Operation’

“Ollie was running his own covert operation within the authorized covert operation,” one source said Thursday, adding that it was not yet clear to investigators whether North had approval from his boss, the then-national security adviser, Vice Adm. John M. Poindexter, to give this intelligence to Iran.

The Central Intelligence Agency and other U.S. intelligence agencies are reluctant to share classified information abroad unless an exchange has been worked out with a foreign intelligence service. Such exchanges are closely monitored and controlled by experienced intelligence officers.

It could not be learned when North passed the intelligence to Iran, which one source said he did “under the table.” The computer messages that disclosed North’s action were recently turned over to the review board chaired by former Sen. John Tower (R-Tex.), which is investigating National Security Council procedures in the Iran- contra affair.

Cartons of Information

Three or four cartons of messages came from the NSC computer system, which allowed personnel to send messages to each other. The information was not available during the earlier investigation by the Senate Intelligence Committee.

A senior official said Thursday that North’s “free-lance” intelligence sharing, designed to win the release of American hostages being held in Lebanon and build credibility with Iranians, may turn out to be a “nightmare,” demonstrating that the Reagan Administration was operating at cross-purposes. This is because Reagan had formally authorized the covert sharing of intelligence with Iraq, including information from sensitive U.S. satellite reconnaissance.

A key legal question raised by the messages is whether North believed he had authorization from his superiors to pass the intelligence to Iran. If he was acting entirely on his own, North may have violated federal espionage laws, which for military personnel convicted of spying in peacetime carry the death penalty. However, if North was given authorization by more senior officials, he may not have violated the law, according to one legal expert.

Lawyer Declines Comment

Brendan Sullivan Jr., North’s attorney, did not return a reporter’s phone call Thursday. A spokesman said Sullivan would not comment on news reports about North, who was fired last November. Late last year, North refused to testify before Congress, invoking his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination. Poindexter also refused to testify on similar grounds.