Iran Says Not 'Concerned' by Possible Derailment of Plane Deals under Trump
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran's Deputy Transport Minister Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan said Tehran is not “concerned” that its deals with aviation giants Boeing and Airbus may be affected by the election of Donald Trump as the next president of the United States.
"We are not concerned, although we should not ignore such a possibility,” Fakhrieh Kashan told Reuters when asked whether either deal could be derailed if Trump imposes new restrictions on trade with Iran.
"The fact is that Mr Trump may impose certain new sanctions, but we would consider that to be a violation of the JCPOA (nuclear accord), which explicitly provides for the possibility for the purchase of aircraft and their sale by manufacturers,” he added.
Fakhrieh Kashan also dismissed US claims that Iran could misuse civil jetliners for military purposes and said, "…these accusations are not based on reality and are propaganda against the Iranian society and people.”
On Sunday, Iran’s Minister of Road and Urban Development Abbas Akhoundi said the country is going to finalize a contract with French plane manufacturer Airbus for purchase of jetliners in a few days.
He said details of the contract will be made public afterwards.
During a visit to Paris in January by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Tehran signed the major contract with Airbus worth about $27 billion to buy 118 planes.
Iran and Airbus intensified business negotiations in October following the US decision to remove a final hurdle for Western aircraft manufacturers to sell planes to Iran under contracts signed after coming into force of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the nuclear agreement reached by Tehran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) in July 2015.
While the Western plane makers are impatient to begin trade with Iran, Washington still demands that even non-American manufacturers wishing to sell to Iran obtain an export license if their products include materials made in the United States. Airbus, based in Europe, buys more than 40 percent of all its aircraft parts from the US.
Iran sealed another deal in June worth around $25 billion with the US aerospace heavyweight, Boeing, for the purchase of 100 passenger planes.
In December, the deal with Boing was finalized, allowing Iran to buy 80 planes within 10 years. The first deliveries are expected in 2018.