Member of Parliament: We Don't Have Money to Buy Boeing and Airbus Planes

The head of the Parliament's Civil Commission says Iran does not have the money to buy Boeing and Airbus planes and that the government has not specified a source for their payment in the 97 budget. Mohammad Reza Rezaei Koocheh made this statement on Wednesday (February 7) in an interview with Young Journalists Club. He referred to the Rouhani government, stating that 'perhaps their priorities are no longer flights and planes, as there is no mention of paying 15% of the financing for the purchase of planes in the 97 budget.' This representative predicted that for this reason, 'it will no longer be possible to import the remaining planes announced by the government, and with the expiration of the two-year purchase permit, these contracts will be canceled.' Mohammad Rezaei Koocheh said that initially, the planes purchased by Iran from these two companies were supposed to be imported 'through financing.' The representative from Jahrom added that currently, Airbus and Boeing have asked Iran to 'pay 15% of the financing.' According to the head of the Parliament's Civil Commission, this is while the government has not predicted 'this 15% {financing} for the purchase of planes' in the 97 budget. He stated that the 12th government has only allocated 15% for the financing of the rail network and withdrawals from the National Development Fund in the next year's budget. Rezaei Koocheh added that without specifying the sources for this 15% financing, it is impossible to make the payments. No government official has yet responded to the statements of the head of the Parliament's Civil Commission in this regard. The sale of new commercial planes to Iran is one of the issues included in the JCPOA, and Tehran has signed contracts worth tens of billions for the purchase of these planes with Boeing, Airbus, and ATR of Italy over the past two years. The news of the lack of mention of payments for these planes in the new year's budget comes at a time when Hassan Rouhani, the president, and his government officials have always declared the modernization of Iran's air fleet as one of the major 'privileges' that the nuclear agreement with the West was supposed to bring to Iranians. Mohammad Rezaei Koocheh's statements come after Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan, the deputy minister of roads and urban development of Iran, said that out of a total of 16.6 billion dollars of the total contract with Boeing, 'only half of it will be paid.' Airbus was also supposed to sell 118 aircraft worth 25 billion dollars to Iran, which Tehran later reduced to 112 aircraft and the amount to below 10 billion dollars. The two aircraft manufacturers, Airbus and Boeing, announced in September 2016 that the U.S. government had issued the necessary licenses for selling planes to Iran, which had suffered from years of sanctions leading to the deterioration of its air fleet. However, the U.S. Treasury Secretary announced on May 24 of this year that the country would review its licenses for the sale of passenger planes from Boeing and Airbus to Iran. The deputy minister of roads and urban development of the Islamic Republic of Iran also recently stated that if the U.S. exits the JCPOA, the delivery of Boeing and Airbus planes to Iran will be canceled. Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan added on January 17, 2018, in an interview with ILNA that Iran is waiting for the U.S. to clarify whether it will stay in the JCPOA or not, and after that, it will decide on the advance payments for its orders to Airbus. Based on a ban imposed since 1995, Western manufacturers have been prohibited from selling equipment and spare parts related to aircraft to Iranian companies.