<P> On the day of McFarlane 's resignation , Oliver North , a military aide to the United States National Security Council ( NSC ) , proposed a new plan for selling arms to Iran , which included two major adjustments : instead of selling arms through Israel , the sale was to be direct , and a portion of the proceeds would go to Contras , or Nicaraguan paramilitary fighters waging guerrilla warfare against the democratically elected Sandinista government , at a markup . The dealings with the Iranians were conducted via the NSC with Admiral Poindexter and his deputy Colonel North , with the American historians Malcolm Byrne and Peter Kornbluh writing that Poindexter granted much power to North `` ... who made the most of the situation , often deciding important matters on his own , striking outlandish deals with the Iranians , and acting in the name of the president on issues that were far beyond his competence . All of these activities continued to take place within the framework of the president 's broad authorization . Until the press reported on the existence of the operation , nobody in the administration questioned the authority of Poindexter 's and North 's team to implement the president 's decisions '' . North proposed a $15 million markup , while contracted arms broker Ghorbanifar added a 41 % markup of his own . Other members of the NSC were in favor of North 's plan ; with large support , Poindexter authorized it without notifying President Reagan , and it went into effect . At first , the Iranians refused to buy the arms at the inflated price because of the excessive markup imposed by North and Ghorbanifar . They eventually relented , and in February 1986 , 1,000 TOW missiles were shipped to the country . From May to November 1986 , there were additional shipments of miscellaneous weapons and parts . </P>
who was the u.s. military officer that was at the head of the iranian arms deals
Oliver North