Mehdi Hashemi was thought to be guilty of opposition to the Iranian regime's dealings during President Reagan's administration.
 Officially he was guilty of sedition, murder, and related charges, but others suspect his true crime was opposition to the regime's secret dealings with the United States (see IranContra affair). 
The IranContra affair (Persian:  -  , Spanish: "caso Irn-Contra" ), also referred to as Irangate, Contragate or the IranContra scandal, was a political scandal in the United States that occurred during the second term of the Reagan Administration. 
