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US House bill on plane sales to Iran raises concerns in Tehran‎

Business Materials 18 December 2017 11:02 (UTC +04:00)
A US House bill on tightening controls on the Islamic Republic plane sales has led to serious ‎concerns in Iran regarding the future of the country’s deals with leading western aircraft ‎manufacturers
US House bill on plane sales to Iran raises concerns in Tehran‎

Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 17‎

By Fatih Karimov – Trend:‎

A US House bill on tightening controls on the Islamic Republic plane sales has led to serious ‎concerns in Iran regarding the future of the country’s deals with leading western aircraft ‎manufacturers, Boeing and Airbus.‎

The US House of Representatives passed a bill last week that would require the Treasury ‎Department to notify Congress about the activities of the Iranian company that purchases the ‎planes, as well as the financing used for the deal and certify that they would not aid Iran's effort ‎to distribute weapons.‎

Meanwhile the US lawmakers emphasize that the legislation does not bar any aircraft sales to ‎Iran, the Iranian side, sees that as a step against the nuclear deal between Tehran and the six ‎world power, namely the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) which came into force ‎last year.‎

Tehran is concerned that the legislation will undermine its vital aircraft deals, worth some $44 ‎billion with EU and US aircraft builders.‎

In December 2016, Iran Air agreed separate contracts to buy 100 Airbus aircraft worth an ‎estimated $27 billion and 80 Boeing jets valued at $16.6 billion. Earlier that year, in February, it signed a ‎deal to buy up to 40 ATR turboprop passenger planes.‎

Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan, Iranian Deputy Road and Urban Development Minister said yesterday ‎that the legislation can undermine Iran’s plane purchase campaigns.‎

‎"If this bill is finally approved by the Senate, sales of planes by Boeing and Airbus to Iran would ‎face problems which is a clear violation of the JCPOA by the US," the official said.‎

He added that the bill would not ban sales of planes to Iran, but would nonetheless create serious ‎obstacles on the way of selling planes to Iran.‎

Fakhrieh Kashan further said that the plan would either be meant to deter financial institutions ‎from funding any Iran-related transactions or would trace and eventually confiscate the payments ‎that Iran would make for purchasing the planes.‎

Meanwhile, Iran Air CEO Farzaneh Sharafbafi has made more optimistic statements regarding ‎the issue.‎

The Iranian flag carrier’s head, told reporters Dec. 17, that the legislation may delay OFAC(US ‎Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control) licenses for Iran’s plane purchase, but ‎would not undermine the deals.‎

She earlier said that even if the United States chooses to walk out of the nuclear deal, Tehran’s ‎aircraft deal with Boeing won’t be affected.‎

Meanwhile Fakhrieh Kashan, has said that Iran would have right to file a complaint against the ‎US in a joint Committee established over the implementation of the nuclear agreement‎, if the ‎senate approves the legislation and it comes into force, a sign that Tehran views the legislation as ‎a serious challenge for its long-awaited air plane deals to renovate its aging air fleet.‎

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