Iran expects the U.S. Treasury to grant licenses by the end of this month that should help pave the way for the completion of the purchase of more than 200 aircraft from Boeing Co. and Airbus Group SE, Iran’s deputy transport minister Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan said in Tehran on Sunday. Iran is trying to upgrade its aging airline fleet and in June signed an agreement with Boeing to buy 80 planes and lease 29 more. But the deal has come under pressure from lawmakers in the U.S. who have discussed various measures to restrict the sale, including prohibiting the Treasury Department from licensing it.
The transaction would be the Chicago-based plane maker’s first in Iran since sanctions on the country were lifted in January and follows a $27 billion agreement with Airbus Group SE for 118 planes. Airbus jets have more than 10 percent U.S. content so they also require export licenses.
“The U.S. should’ve issued the licenses already and they haven’t done that,” Kashan said, adding that they will be granted by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, known as OFAC.
Kashan said Iran has an agreement with a leasing company for $10 billion in financing for the Airbus deal and that it will be signed within days. He didn’t disclose the name of the leasing company or say where it was based. The value of Iran’s deal with Boeing has yet to be finalized and financing talks are ongoing, he said. “Our latest forecast is that by the end of the current Iranian year (March 2017), we will definitely see a number of those planes, both from Airbus and Boeing, arrive in Iran,” he said.
