The $25 billion airplane sales agreement that Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) has signed with Tehran is for the supply of jetliners for the government-backed carrier Iran Air. The carrier will obtain the planes through a lease-purchase agreement, pending clearance from the U.S. and Iran.
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With most economic sanctions against Iran lifted after it signed the recent nuclear deal, Iran Air is ready to expand its fleet.
US aerospace giant Boeing and IranAir confirmed Tuesday a tentative deal for the sale of passenger planes, in what could prove a landmark for easing in the hard relationship between the two countries. U.S. banks are still barred from working with Iran.
An Iran Air Boeing 747 passenger plane sits on the tarmac of the domestic Mehrabad airport in the Iranian capital Tehran, January 15, 2013.
Iran had been an global pariah prior to the Iran nuclear deal reached in 2015 and the U.S.-Iran relationship remains one of mutual distrust, with the U.S. maintaining extensive sanctions on Iran.
When asked for a comment on Boeing’s statement that the Iran Air agreement was indeed signed with USA government authorization, a spokesperson for the Treasury Department said, “We do not comment about engagement with specific private entities”. According to the International Flight Safety Foundation, 1,672 people have lost their lives in aviation-related accidents in Iran since the 1979 revolution.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been openly wary of allowing greater business footholds for USA firms.
Image: Iran Air will purchase aircraft mainly from the new generation of Boeing 737 and 777 type aircraft.
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It said the multi-country agreement on Iran’s nuclear program reached last summer allows “civil aviation companies, including American companies, to pursue legitimate commerce with Iran”. Okay, it’s a very important and necessary move. Airbus also is waiting for an export license from the USA government. Iran has kept flying those same planes for decades and its fleet of aging, worn-out commercial aircraft is in desperate need of replacement.
