Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 19
By Elnur Baghishov – Trend:
Several Iranian airlines have contracts with the Russian aircraft manufacturer Sukhoi, but Iran needs a permission from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to buy planes from Russians, Trend quotes Maghsoud Asadi Samani, Secretary of Association of Iranian Airlines, as saying in an interview with Mehr News Agency.
Asadi Samani said the US produces over 10 percent of the plane parts used in the aircraft production throughout the world.
Forty percent of the parts used in the Sukhoi planes are the US products, he added, explaining that therefore the sale of the planes to Iran demands permission from OFAC, a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the US Treasury Department.
“So far, Sukhoi officials have twice visited Iran,” said Asadi Samani. “They have had talks with officials from the Iranian airlines and have presented their aircraft. They have even signed contracts with some Iranian airlines. However, an OFAC license is needed in order to be able to buy a Sukhoi plane, and therefore it has not been possible to realize the contracts.”
He went on to add that the Russians need to replace the parts in their planes with the non-US ones, so that they can sell their aircraft to the Islamic Republic.
“And to do so, the Russians need big investments,” he stressed, adding that the replacement of the plane parts with the non-US ones will take two years.