The Treasury Department issued a government license giving Boeing approval to sell planes to the Islamic republic for the first time since its 1979 revolution.
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Welcoming the United States decision, the spokesman added: “Airbus was the first company to sign an agreement with Iran Air” under last year’s historic nuclear deal between Tehran and major world powers.
Boeing and Airbus have reached provisional agreements to sell more than 100 jetliners each to Iran’s national airline, a pair of deals valued at more than $50 billion at list prices. He said the first 17 planes will be A320s and A330s.
Boeing attributed the Airbus announcement to the fact that the European plane maker had submitted its application first and that OFAC operates on a “first-come, first-served” basis.
In a June letter to Congress, Boeing described its agreement to sell Iran Air 80 planes, with deliveries beginning in 2017 and running until 2025. Business has been slow to materialize, though, amid concern among western businesses of running afoul of continued US restrictions on doing business with Iran.
Airbus said it had been granted an initial license to supply 17 A320 or A330 jets that are slated for early delivery, and that it expected a second license for remaining jets in weeks.
Iran’s United Nations mission did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday. The country has 250 commercial planes, but as of June only 162 were flying because the rest needed new parts.
Boeing and Airbus have agreed to sell or lease more than 100 aircraft each to Iran’s national airline, IranAir, following last year’s nuclear agreement between Iran, the USA, and five other world powers.
There’s also no assurance that all the orders will materialise, given the uncertain finances of Iranian airlines and competition from their Persian Gulf counterparts. However, the Boeing deal has been criticized by both American lawmakers and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
“We look forward to receiving our license from the government shortly”, he said.
The aircraft deal also has become a political issue in an election year in the US.
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