--- description: On the 25th anniversary of Oliver North's sentencing, here's a look back at the the events leading up to the Iran-Contra scandal. title: 25 Years Later: The Iran-Contra Scandal image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4cc7a0db62fd6486/69869a70d0b6f21bdb305240/1280_contra.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [politics](/tag/politics/) ## politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 25 Years Later: Oliver North and The Iran-Contra Scandal by [Salima Koroma](/author/salima-koroma/) ## Salima Koroma Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 5, 2014 11:00 AM CUT  Sandanista troops prepare to fight Contra rebels Sandanista troops prepare to fight Contra rebelsCindy Karp -- Getty by [Salima Koroma](/author/salima-koroma/) ## Salima Koroma Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 5, 2014 11:00 AM CUT 25 years ago, Marine Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North did something really, really bad. He sold weapons to Iran in an effort to help fund rebels fighting Nicaragua’s Socialist government. It was a war that was already being funded by the small country’s cocaine trade, a fact that prompted Congress to halt the flow of money from the U.S. to Nicaragua. After a short prison sentence and a successful appeal, North continues to be a polarizing figure and important voice in the conservative sphere. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2954148/iran-contra/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2954148/iran-contra/"},"headline":"25 Years Later: Oliver North and The Iran-Contra Scandal","datePublished":"2014-07-05T11:00:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:58:01.662Z","description":"Here's a look back on the 25th anniversary of Oliver North's sentencing.","url":"https://time.com/2954148/iran-contra/","keywords":["politics"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4cc7a0db62fd6486/69869a70d0b6f21bdb305240/1280_contra.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Salima Koroma","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/salima-koroma/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4cc7a0db62fd6486/69869a70d0b6f21bdb305240/1280_contra.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Nicaraguan Contras","caption":"Sandanista troops prepare to fight Contra rebels","creditText":"Cindy Karp -- Getty","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/politics/","name":"politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2954148/iran-contra/","name":"25 Years Later: Oliver North and The Iran-Contra Scandal"}}]}] ```