Memo Suggests Bush Knew of Further Details

Vice President George Bush knew in April, 1986, that the White House planned to send a delegation to Iran, and he sought to postpone the trip until he returned from a visit to Saudi Arabia, according to a National Security Council computer message.

The April 3, 1986, message from then-National Security Adviser John M. Poindexter suggests that Bush was more knowledgeable of and played a more active role in the arms-for-hostages deals than he has acknowledged, an aide to the select Senate committee on the Iran-Contra affair said.

Bush, who is in Iowa campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination, has denied knowing the details of the secret 1985 and 1986 deals.

The memo from Poindexter to his aide, Lt. Col. Oliver L. North, was released by the congressional Iran-Contra panels when North testified in July. However, it was overlooked by the House and Senate committees in their questioning of North and Poindexter and in their final report.

Urged Delay of Trip

The message said: “If we can manage it, the vp would appreciate it if the Iran trip did not take place until he leaves Saudi Arabia. If that screws up planning too much, then he will understand that we can’t do it.”

Bush went to Saudi Arabia on April 5, 1986, to assure the Saudis that the United States would not let the Iran-Iraq war spread to other nations in the region. He left Saudi Arabia on April 7 and visited other Middle Eastern countries.

By the time Bush went to Saudi Arabia, the United States had already made two arms sales to Iran. The secret trip to Tehran was in late May, 1986.

Barbara Pardue, the vice president’s press secretary, had no immediate comment when informed of the message.

Interview of Bush

In a television interview last month, Bush said of the Iran-Contra affair: “Well, if I had a lot more knowledge of what was going on, I would have said: ‘Don’t do this.’ ”

The Poindexter message was dated nearly two months before North and Robert C. McFarlane, Poindexter’s predecessor as national security adviser, went to Tehran in an attempt to swap the U.S. arms for hostages.

Although it was released as an exhibit during last summer’s Iran-Contra hearings, the message was overshadowed then by other revelations. It was on the same page as another message, from McFarlane to North, about Blowpipe missiles for the Nicaraguan rebels, and that communication was the focus of the committees’ attention.