The U.S. on Wednesday said it has provided the first two licenses to allow aerospace companies Boeing and Airbus to proceed with aircraft sales to Iran.
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The U.S. on Wednesday approved the $25 billion sale of Airbus planes to Iran, which will provide a much-needed refresh to an aging fleet long blocked from fix by worldwide sanctions. An Airbus spokesman reportedly told the AP that the company’s OFAC license covers 17 planes – A320s and A330s – of the company’s initial deal with Iran Air. Chicago-based Boeing followed with its own announcement later in the day.
Opponents of the Boeing deal pointed out that the Treasury imposed sanctions on Iran Air in 2011 for using passenger and cargo planes to transport rockets and missiles to places such as Syria, sometimes disguised as medicine or spare parts.
Upwards of 100 Boeing aircraft are going to Iran in the first deal between our two countries since 1979.
TEHRAN – The US green light for Boeing and Airbus sales to Iran has broken a taboo and opens the door to a potential boom in foreign financial dealings with Tehran, experts said.
Iran had been an worldwide pariah prior to the nuclear deal reached past year 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. The House of Representatives voted in July to block aircraft sales by Airbus and Boeing to Iran and sought a legislation to block the Treasury Department from licensing the sales and to prevent loans from U.S. institutions to finance the deals.
The deal is estimated to be worth roughly US$25 billion.
This approval, which is in the form of a license, concerns an order of $25 billion made by Iran Air aircraft to manufacturer in June.
The Treasure Department has sanctioned IranAir in recent years for helping Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps “transport military related equipment”.
Even though deliveries from Airbus and Boeing could begin soon, there is a possible hitch. In a June letter to the U.S. Congress, Boeing said the deal involves Iran Air buying 80 aircraft with a total list price of $17.6 billion, with deliveries beginning in 2017 and running until 2025.
As the Obama administration moved to begin allowing the sales, Republicans blasted US policy toward Iran. The republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has threatened to tear up the nuclear deal if elected this November.
“We expect the second license to be granted in the coming weeks”, the spokesman added.
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