Boeing: No Exact Timeline Can Be Set for Negotiations with Iran

The American aircraft manufacturing company Boeing announced that predicting an exact time for negotiations with Iranian officials regarding the needs of the country's aviation industry is difficult. Iran hopes to purchase about 400 new aircraft from Boeing in the next decade to replace its aging fleet, some of which date back to before the 1979 revolution. According to a report by the Emirati newspaper 'Gulf News' on Tuesday, with the achievement of a nuclear agreement between Iran and the six powers of the 1+5 group, it is expected that economic sanctions against Tehran will be lifted as soon as possible. Iranian officials are hopeful that in the first step after the lifting of sanctions, they will enter negotiations with Boeing to modernize the country's air transport fleet and purchase new aircraft; however, this process also faces difficulties. Reuters has also reported that Boeing states that demand for aircraft will be high in the long term, particularly that Middle Eastern countries will need 3,000 passenger aircraft in the next 20 years. However, Boeing will not be able to start negotiations with Iran until the sanctions are lifted and must wait for Congress representatives to vote on the final approval of lifting Iran's sanctions. John Wojick, Boeing's Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing, stated, 'We are following the U.S. government's decision regarding any interaction with Iran. It is very difficult to predict when our position will change.' He added that Boeing is still selling aircraft parts to Iran, but the volume of transactions is very minimal. 'We still have not had any direct negotiations with Iran regarding their needs and the number of their orders.' Western and Iranian officials have announced that economic sanctions are likely to be lifted in early 2016. Last year, the U.S. Treasury Department allowed Boeing to sell some of the parts needed for Iranian aircraft that are being phased out of the air fleet due to age. Iranian and Western aviation industry officials estimate that Iran will need 400 new aircraft worth $20 billion in the next decade, indicating that there will be a suitable business opportunity for Boeing, which has long awaited the sale of new aircraft to Iran. Last October, Boeing sold navigation guides, maps, navigation charts, and data to Iran Air in its first contract with Iran since 1979. Meanwhile, the Russian news agency 'Sputnik' quoted Tarasenko, the head of the Russian Sukhoi aircraft manufacturing company, as saying that 100 Sukhoi Superjet aircraft would be delivered to Iran as soon as the sanctions are lifted. Hamid Habibi, Deputy of Iran's Civil Aviation Organization, stated that the aviation industry's plan is to activate 110 grounded passenger aircraft under the new conditions after the sanctions. He expressed that 'one of the problems for airlines is the existence of grounded aircraft due to reasons such as lack of parts and lack of support, of which 70 can be returned to the country's air transport cycle.' In this context, Boeing or Sukhoi? The question is whether Boeing's wide-body aircraft are better for Iran or Airbus? Is the first Chinese passenger aircraft an option for Iran's aviation industry?