Iran aviation official says Boeing sale involves 100 planes

Iran and U.S. aerospace giant Boeing have reached a deal for the purchase of 100 aircraft to renew the country’s ageing fleet, the head of Tehran’s civil aviation authority announced on Sunday.

“We have 250 planes in the country, 230 need to be replaced”, said Ali Abedzadeh, the head of the civil aviation body, adding that the deal still needed approval from the USA government.

He told the Fars news agency that the deal would be “the largest and most important contract” with the United States – barring military deals – since before Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

So far, Boeing has only been granted permission to present its products to Iranair and a handful of other airlines as it tries to catch up with Europe’s Airbus, which won a provisional deal earlier this year for 118 jets worth $27 billion.

Many of Iran´s ageing civil aviation fleet are in desperate need of replacement.

In mid-June Iran’s Minister of Roads and Urban Development Abbas Akhoundi confirmed that Tehran has reached agreement with Boeing to purchase aircrafts. He said there wasn’t a firm price set yet for the airplanes.

Boeing has requested final authorisation from the US Treasury for the sale of aircraft, Abedzadeh continued. He added that the deal still needed approval from the USA government.

Despite allowing nuclear negotiations with Washington, Khamenei has repeatedly warned of American and Western “infiltration” in the post-sanctions era.

This means major worldwide banks, particularly in Europe, are still reluctant to do business with Iran for fear of punitive USA measures.

That agreement is still pending permission from the US Treasury.