Mohsen Kangarloo

Mohsen Kangarloo served as security adviser to Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi from 1982 to 1989 and was one of the key Iranian negotiators in the Iran-Contra affair. In February 1986, he met with Oliver North, Manucher Ghorbanifar, and Albert Hakim in Germany to discuss weapons transfers and hostage releases. Kangarloo pushed for the United States to provide Iran advanced air-to-air missiles for its fleet of F-14 fighters needed in the Iran-Iraq War. He later stated in a 2018 interview that Hezbollah took hostages 'because it can be useful for us,' confirming Iran's strategic leverage over the hostage situation. He died on 25 March 2020.