Iran Abandons Purchase of Six Custom Airbus Aircraft

An Iranian official said on Monday, September 29, that Tehran has reduced its order by six aircraft due to delays by U.S. authorities in approving the export of Airbus planes to Iran. The Iranian government announced its plan in January 2016 to purchase 118 passenger aircraft from Airbus worth $27 billion. However, since then, it has repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with the delays in the approval of this deal by U.S. authorities. Because Airbus uses American-made parts and technologies, the export of a large number of these aircraft to Iran requires approval from U.S. authorities. Alireza Jahangirian, Iran's Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development, said on Monday at a conference on the aviation industry that there are indications that the U.S. government will issue the export license for these aircraft by the end of this month. He also criticized what Iran sees as delays in the implementation of the consequences of the nuclear agreement. Iranian officials have repeatedly claimed that despite the passage of nine months since the global powers' agreement to lift most Western sanctions against Iran, Tehran's foreign transactions are still facing problems due to restrictions imposed by the U.S. The Iranian Deputy Minister of Transport told Reuters on the sidelines of the 'Iran National Aviation Summit' that 'the purchase of six aircraft that were supposed to be delivered in 2016 has been abandoned.' According to him, as a result of this deal, which will be finalized in the coming weeks, the number of aircraft will decrease from 118 to 112. Twelve of these aircraft are on paper the A380 superjets, but he added that Iran can refrain from purchasing these double-decker passenger aircraft under this contract and instead receive smaller models. Reuters first reported in June that Iran has political doubts about purchasing this model, which is the largest passenger aircraft in the world. Iran's new decision may somewhat diminish the significance of this contract, which was signed during President Hassan Rouhani's visit to Paris. However, Western officials say this contract is still an important symbol of the beginning of a new era of political and economic relations with Iran. According to the Iranian official, in the deal with Boeing, which agreed to sell aircraft to Iran after the lifting of sanctions, the number of aircraft may also decrease from 109 to 108. Boeing announced in June that it had already agreed to sell 80 aircraft directly to Iran Air and will oversee the leasing of another 29 aircraft. The Iranian official did not specify whether the reduction of one aircraft in the Boeing deal pertains to the aircraft intended for purchase or for lease. He also did not clarify whether the reason for the reduction in purchases from Boeing is due to similar problems in executing the contract with Airbus or another issue. Boeing is also waiting for approval of this contract and to receive an export license from U.S. authorities. Both aircraft manufacturers stated that they would not comment on their contracts and that all their decisions are within the framework of U.S. government regulations. Western participants at the conference on Monday in Tehran tried to address Iran's concerns regarding delays in the approval of these contracts. They expressed hope that these contracts would be finalized and emphasized their commitment to the provisions of last year's nuclear agreement. The French ambassador in Tehran said that changing relations after years of sanctions is complicated and is further complicated by older U.S. sanctions against Iran. An informed source said that the U.S. Treasury Department is working to advance this contract and that the export license for the Airbus deal is likely to be issued in the coming weeks. However, others speculate that a sensitive decision like selling Western aircraft to Iran, which many Republicans oppose, may be postponed until after the U.S. presidential election in November.