V day surprise for him to navigation Jump to search 1980 U. This article is about the specific 1980 events. For the general concept, see October surprise.
One of the leading national issues during 1980 was the release of 66 Americans being held hostage in Iran since November 4, 1979. According to the allegation, the Reagan Administration subsequently rewarded Iran for its participation in the plot by supplying Iran with weapons via Israel and by unblocking Iranian government monetary assets in U. After twelve years of varying media attention, both houses of the United States Congress held separate inquiries and concluded that credible evidence supporting the allegation was absent or insufficient. In November 1979, a number of U. The issue of an “October Surprise” was brought up during an investigation by a House of Representatives Subcommittee into how the 1980 Reagan Campaign obtained debate briefing materials of then-President Carter. During that investigation, sometimes referred to as Debategate, the Subcommittee on Human Resources of the House Post Office and Civil Service Committee obtained access to Reagan Campaign documents. The conspiracy theory garnered little attention until news of the Iran Contra affair broke in November 1986.
Barry of Newsweek has said that Iran-Contra “created fertile ground for the October Surprise theory”. L’Enfant Plaza Hotel in Washington, D. March 1980: Jamshid Hashemi told Gary Sick he was visited by CIA director William Casey and Roy Furmark while staying at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D. March 21, 1980: Jamshid Hashimi and his brother Cyrus Hashemi meet at the latter’s home. Spring 1980: In an October 1990 interview, Jamshid Hashemi told Gary Sick he was introduced to Donald Gregg, a U. National Security Council aide with connections to George Bush, at Cyrus Hashemi’s office in New York City in the Spring of 1980. About August 12, 1980: Karrubi meets again with Casey, saying Khomeini has agreed to the proposal.