The United States has issued licenses to Boeing BA.N and Airbus AIR.PA to sell commercial aircraft to Iran, in accordance with last year’s nuclear deal, a U.S. Treasury spokeswoman said in a statement on Wednesday. Jackie reports, “There is ferocious competition between Boeing and Airbus, and a good chance Boeing would be locked out of the Iranian market for decades if it didn’t get this approval”.
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Airbus spokesman Justin Dubon told AP on September 21 that Airbus received the license and that the first 17 planes will be A320s and A330s. Although Airbus is based in Europe, the company needed US approval because a portion of Airbus components are of American origin.
On Sunday, Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan, a deputy transportation minister, told reporters that he expected USA permission for all aircraft purchases “by the end of September” and that several airplanes would arrive by mid-March.
The U.S. government has given plane makers Boeing Co. and Airbus Group SE the all-clear to deliver jetliners to Iran Air in one of the highest-profile trade breakthroughs since nuclear sanctions were lifted on the Islamic Republic in January.
Base model A320s are now listed at an average of $98 million, while A330s start at $231.5 million.
European company Airbus confirmed to Reuters it had received a us license permitting the company to deliver its first 17 planes, A320 or A330 jets, to Iran.
Most Iranian planes were purchased before the Islamic Revolution.
The June memorandum of understanding covered the sale of 80 planes to Iran Air. “That’s been a huge concern by many people in the US and elsewhere that this is going to, as a side aspect of this deal, improve Iran’s ability to transport covertly”.
Airbus said it had been granted an initial licence to supply 17 A320 or A330 jets that are slated for early delivery, and that it expected a second licence for remaining jets in weeks.
LONG HAUL: An Iran Air Boeing 747SP.
Boeing and Iran reached a $20 billion provisional agreement in late June for 80 aircraft, as NPR’s Jackie Northam reported.
Iran had been an global pariah prior to the nuclear deal reached a year ago with world powers and the U.S. -Iran relationship remains one of mutual distrust, with the U.S. maintaining extensive sanctions on the Islamic republic.
With U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump strongly critical of the rapprochement, some banks fear they could be left with no insurance if Iran sanctions “snap back”.
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Iran had previously voiced concern at the amount of time it was taking to receive United States export licenses.
