Reagan Says He Wasn't Home

WASHINGTON--President Reagan said yesterday that he wasn't home when former National Security Council aide Lt. Col. Oliver L. North gave three Iranians a special, latenight tour of the White House and he hasn't had time to form an opinion on it yet.

"We were obviously out of the city," Reagan said when asked about the tour during a White House picture-taking session with Republican congressional leaders.

"I haven't known about it long enough to have any thoughts on it," the president said.

The special tour last September was disclosed Monday night by retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Richard Secord, who worked closely with North on Iranian arms sales and funding for the Nicaraguan Contra rebels.

Secord said on ABC-TV's "Nightline" news program that he and Iranian-born business partner Albert Hakim arranged to bring the Iranians to Washington to convince them they were dealing with real U.S. officials.

Secord described the Iranians as representing a "second channel" of communication with Iran, one that U.S. participants in the ultimately unsuccessful arms-for-hostages project were eager to pursue at the time.

The Iranians' trip to Washington followed other unsuccessful attempts to negotiate with Iran, including former National Security Adviser Robert McFarlane's trip to Tehran with a planeload of armaments in an effort to gain freedom for U.S. hostages in Lebanon.

North, who was fired in November after revelations that profits from the arms sales to Iran were diverted to the Contras, met with the Iranians in the Old Executive Office Building, Secord said.

"They were even given a quick tour late one night of the White House grounds and the standard tourist tour of the White House," Secord said, adding that North was their guide. He said the Secret Service was aware of the Iranians' presence.