Reported here for the first time are the developments of an efficient method for oxidative cleavage of carbon-carbon double bonds yielding carbonyl compounds by using aryl-lambda(3)-iodanes, which involve a combination of iodosylbenzene and HBF4 in the presence of water. The method serves as a safety alternative to ozonolysis. The oxidative cleavage of olefins probably involves the hitherto unknown direct vicinal dihydroxylations of double bonds with aryl-lambda(3)-iodanes and the subsequent oxidative glycol fissions. Cyclic (cyclopentenes, cyclohexenes, etc.) and acyclic olefins are cleaved smoothly under our conditions. In the reaction of electron-deficient styrenes such as m-nitrostyrene, intermediate formation of the corresponding epoxide was detected. A variety of aryloxiranes also undergo an oxidative cleavage of the epoxide rings under our conditions, and aromatic aldehydes were obtained in good yields