IrangateI‧ran‧gate /ɪˈrɑːnɡeɪt, ɪˈræn-/, the Iˌran-ˈContra Afˌfair 
a political scandal in 1987, when it was discovered that members of President reagan's government had sold weapons to Iran in exchange for the return of US hostages (=people kept as prisoners by an enemy), and had then used the profits to support the Contras, an unofficial army that was fighting the government in Nicaragua
a political scandal in 1987, when it was discovered that members of President reagan's government had sold weapons to Iran in exchange for the return of US hostages (=people kept as prisoners by an enemy), and had then used the profits to support the Contras, an unofficial army that was fighting the government in Nicaragua