“It was also said by Boeing that it had signed a memo of understanding with Iran Air “, in which the state airline expressing its intent to buy the Chicago-based company’s commercial passenger airplanes also.
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“If the necessary permissions are obtained from the two sides, a number of Boeing aircraft – generally from the 737 Next Generation family and the 300ER and 900 models from the 777 series – will be acquired by Iran Air under a hire-purchase deal”, it said. But the Chicago-based aircraft manufacturer has to follow very specific guidelines laid out by the US government, and any contracts will have to be approved by the administration.
In a statement July 21 to The Associated Press, Boeing says it signed the agreement “under authorizations from the US government following a determination that Iran had met its obligations under the nuclear accord reached last summer”.
With most economic sanctions against Iran lifted after it signed the recent nuclear deal, Iran Air is ready to expand its fleet.
State Department spokesman John Kirby said, “The State Department welcomes Boeing’s announcement of this deal with Iran Air”, because it involves the form of “permissible business activity envisioned in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action”.
The Islamic Republic has announced its need for about 400 passenger planes in the next decade to modernize its ageing fleet.
Iran signed a major deal worth $27 billion with Airbus in January to purchase 118 planes from the company.
The overall size of the proposed Boeing sale to Iran remains unclear. “Now we feel the situation is ripe for both”, said Foreign Minister Zarif in a meeting with the foreign affairs commission of the French Senate in Paris, according to Iran’s ILNA news agency. But the deal still requires approval from regulators in the US, where some Airbus parts are made, and an export license from the US Treasury.
In this photo taken on February 7, 2016, A Iranian Mahan Air passenger plane takes off as a plane of Iran’s national air carrier, Iran Air, is parked at left, at Mehrabad airport in Tehran, Iran.
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Iran disclosed the agreement with Boeing on Friday, the first purchase of Boeing jetliners since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
