Airbus and Boeing: The U.S. Has Issued Licenses for Aircraft Sales to Iran

Two aircraft manufacturing companies, Airbus and Boeing, announced that the U.S. government has issued the necessary licenses for selling aircraft to Iran. Accordingly, Airbus will sell 17 aircraft to Iran in the first phase, but it is still unclear how many Boeing aircraft the U.S. government has authorized for sale. Justin Dubon, a spokesperson for Airbus, told the Associated Press on Wednesday, September 31, that these 17 aircraft are from the A320 and A330 models, for which the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury has issued sales licenses to Iran. Shortly after this report, Agence France-Presse cited Boeing officials stating that the U.S. Treasury has also authorized the sale of this American aircraft to Iran. Iran, seeking a nuclear agreement with global powers and the lifting of Tehran's nuclear sanctions, decided to modernize its air fleet, reaching an agreement with Airbus to purchase 118 aircraft. However, just two days prior, on Monday, September 29, Iranian Ministry of Roads and Urban Development officials announced that due to delays by U.S. authorities in issuing export licenses for Airbus to Iran, Tehran decided to reduce its order by six aircraft. Although Airbus is considered a European company, since many of the components used in these aircraft are made in the U.S., their sale also requires U.S. government approval. Meanwhile, Iran has also reached an agreement with Boeing to purchase 80 aircraft and lease another 29. This comes as several U.S. congressional representatives have opposed selling aircraft to Iran, arguing that Iran uses even passenger planes for military purposes, including transporting forces and equipment to Syria. However, Iran has denied this. In this context, Iran received its first post-sanctions aircraft from the U.S., opted out of purchasing six of the custom aircraft from Airbus, and the Iranian Minister of Roads stated that the U.S. Treasury is the only barrier to their purchase from Boeing. Iran has also reached an agreement with Airbus to determine the final prices of the aircraft.