Iran Stands Firm on Plane Contracts: Official

In comments at a press conference on Monday, Farzaneh Sharafbafi underlined that Iran Air has not backed off from any of the contracts to purchase passenger planes from Airbus.

Denouncing the US “unfair” move to blacklist Iran Air and hamper international cooperation with Iran, she said Iran has used various methods to maintain flight services to Europe despite the US sanctions.

Sharafbafi said Iran Air could take delivery of 5 ATR turboprops after the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of the Treasury extended a permission for cooperation with Iran, and called on the European Union to get a similar permission from the OFAC to allow the delivery of Airbus planes to Iran.

She added that Iran has received a total of 16 passenger planes since the 2015 nuclear deal took effect, including three from Airbus and 13 from Franco-Italian turboprop maker ATR.

The US decision to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and reinstate sanctions resulted in the collapse of about $38 billion in plane deals between Tehran and Western firms, with Airbus suffering greater damages than its US rival Boeing.

During a January 2016 visit to Paris by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Tehran signed a major contract with Airbus worth about $27 billion to buy 118 planes.

Later in June that year, Iran sealed another deal worth around $25 billion with the US aerospace heavyweight, Boeing, for the purchase of 100 passenger planes.

In December 2016, the deal with Boeing was finalized, allowing Iran to buy 80 planes within 10 years.