Iran–Contra, the Tanker War & Flight 655: The 1980s That Broke Trust

Secret arms sales, a naval war in the Persian Gulf, and a civilian airliner shot from the sky with 290 people aboard. The decade that hardened the enmity. Episode 6 covers a violent decade soberly. In the Iran–Contra affair, Reagan officials secretly sell missiles to Iran and divert the proceeds to Nicaraguan rebels. Washington tilts toward Iraq in the Iran–Iraq War; the Tanker War brings U.S. and Iranian forces into direct combat, and Operation Praying Mantis destroys much of Iran's navy in a day. Then, in July 1988, the USS Vincennes mistakenly downs Iran Air Flight 655, killing all 290 aboard — a wound deepened by the absence of a formal U.S. apology, and one that still shapes Iranian memory.