Iran Air, Tehran’s national carrier, has agreed to purchase 100 new airplanes over the next decade from American aviation company Boeing in a deal worth as much as $25 billion, aerospace officials said Tuesday.
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“Boeing will continue to follow the lead of the U.S. government with regards to working with Iran’s airlines, and any and all contracts with Iran’s airlines will be contingent upon United States government approval”, Boeing said in a statement.
“Boeing will continue to follow the lead of the US government with regards to working with Iran’s airlines, and any and all contracts with Iran’s airlines will be contingent upon USA government approval”, it said.
Iranian officials believe if the deal is completed, the first Boeing plane could be delivered by October.
Abedzadeh added that Boeing has submitted an official request to the US Treasury on final authorization for the aircraft sale.
The Islamic republic is now emerging from worldwide isolation after the easing of sanctions in January under a deal between Tehran and global powers to curb Iran’s nuclear program.
Nevertheless, it is important to remember that part of the original goal of the Iran nuclear deal was to reinvigorate the economic relationship between the US and Tehran.
Iran Air, the country’s biggest carrier, now serves 27 domestic and 29 worldwide routes with an aging fleet that includes Boeing 747s and Fokker NV 100s. Previously, Iran signed a 27-billion-dollar agreement with Airbus.
Kupchan said global negotiators explicitly permitted commercial aircraft sales to Iran due to the decrepit nature of the Iranian fleet.
The other reason that could hold back Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) from closing the aircraft supply deal with Iran is financing.
In the last 37 years, there have been more than 200 plane crashes in Iran in which more than 2,000 people died.
To be sure, however, Boeing’s sale is not a done deal yet.
The company declined to disclose details of the agreement with Iran Air.
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The new aircraft should help modernize a fleet that is among the oldest and most risky in the world. That comes after several Iranian airlines recently indicated that they wanted to update their fleets with both medium-haul and long-haul jets. AP material published by LongIsland.com, is done so with explicit permission.
