Issuance of Temporary Flight Permit for American-Made Aircraft to Iran

On Friday, August 8, the U.S. Treasury Department announced that it is temporarily allowing international airlines to fly to Iran using American-made aircraft. According to Reuters, this action provides greater assurance to international airlines for cooperating with Iran. The Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury has issued the necessary permit for the temporary stay of American-made aircraft in Iran, allowing international companies such as Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines, which regularly fly to Iran, to use American-made aircraft and parts. Following the implementation of the nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers, known as the JCPOA, nuclear sanctions against Tehran were lifted, while non-nuclear U.S. sanctions against Iran remain in place. Under the nuclear agreement, former President Barack Obama issued a permit for the sale of aircraft to Iran last year. A contract has been signed between Iran and Boeing, but this agreement has faced serious opposition from Republicans in Congress, who are trying to prevent the sale of Boeing aircraft to Iran. According to Reuters, the Treasury's permit issued on Friday will not affect the Iran-Boeing deal. Jonathan Epstein, a lawyer familiar with sanctions in Washington, told Reuters that while American-made aircraft could fly to sanctioned countries like Cuba, Sudan, Syria, and North Korea, an exception was made for Iran. He clarified that legally there was no way for flights to Iran, and companies renting aircraft in the U.S. typically rejected requests for flights to Iran due to concerns about flying American-made aircraft there. The Treasury has set conditions for this temporary permit, including that such aircraft will not be allowed to stay in Iran for more than 72 hours, and this permit does not include helicopters. Iran, as part of extensive plans to modernize its transportation industry after the lifting of sanctions, has ordered a total of seven different models of aircraft from Airbus and Boeing. In this context, the Iranian Minister of Roads stated that only eight out of 60 airports in the country are operational, and Iran is seeking to purchase four Boeing 747s.