The World - News from Nov. 18, 1986

Lawyers for 17 defendants charged with plotting to ship more than $2-billion worth of arms to Iran demanded dismissal of the case in U.S. District Court in New York. They contended that the defendants were doing nothing illegal because President Reagan himself had set up a secret arms pipeline to the Mideast nation. “The foreign policy of the United States contemplates the very kind of arms shipments we are charged with,” said Paul R. Grand, a lawyer for one of the defendants. However, government lawyers argued that the case is unrelated to the White House action.