TEHRAN (FNA)- CEO of Iranian Atiyeh Saba Investment Company Vali Azarvash announced on Sunday that Boeing aviation firm will finance the purchase of 30 new passenger planes by Iran.
"License is being received from OFAC (the US Office of Foreign Assets Control) and Boeing is due to finance all the 30 planes of the first package," Azarvash told FNA on Sunday.
"The first Boeing plane will be delivered to Iran in 2020," he added.
Head of Iran's Civil Aviation Organization Ali Abedzadeh had announced in December that Airbus, ATR and Boeing aviation companies have voiced their readiness to finance the purchase of new passenger planes by Iran.
"Iran is following up finance of the new planes planes via international monitory markets, but manufacturing companies have also voiced their readiness to finance some portion of the purchases," Abedzadeh said.
He made the remarks in reaction to a report by the Wall Street Journal that Trump’s administration was considering blocking planned sales of hundreds of passenger planes by Boeing and Airbus to Iranian airlines.
Abedzadeh said Iran had already become used to Trump’s threats against its plane purchase agreements.
“From the very day President Trump took office, he kept making threats against Iran’s plane agreements,” he added.
Abedzadeh further described the US Congress bill as illegal, and stressed that the confidentiality clause in the agreement with Boeing would not allow any disclosure of purchase details.
In December 2016, Boeing sealed deals with Iran’s flag-carrier airliner Iran Air over sales of 80 jets valued at $16.6 billion. They include 50 narrow-body Boeing 737 passenger jets and 30 wide-body 777 aircraft. Iran Air also sealed deals with Airbus over purchases of 100 planes worth $18-20 billion at list prices and has already received three of them.
US lawmakers on Thursday approved a bill that will bring the sales of American planes to Iran under the close scrutiny of Congress.
The bill – still pending the approval of the Senate – would oblige the Treasury to report to lawmakers on Iranian purchases of US aircraft and how those sales would be financed.
Poster Comment:
Any loss in plane sales would mean loss of jobs; wouldn't go over well at election time.