Boeing Will Not Deliver Any Aircraft to Iran
EghtesadOnline: Iran will use all possible legal channels to pursue its interest over Boeing’s decision to cancel its deal with Iran Air, the minister of roads and urban development said.
“We should not be disappointed since we have overcome harder days in the past ... Hasty reactions would not help us in the current conditions as we need to make use of all the legal capacities to find a solution,” Abbas Akhoundi also told ILNA on Friday.
The minister added that the US administration cannot keep pushing others, as “such policies will form serious threats to the world”.
A Boeing spokesman said on Wednesday the American company will not deliver aircraft to Iran in light of US sanctions, effectively aborting a pair of large contracts with Iranian carriers, Financial Tribune reported.
"We have not delivered any aircraft to Iran, and given we no longer have a license to sell to Iran at this time, we will not be delivering any aircraft," the Boeing spokesman was quoted as saying by AFP.
"We did not factor the Iran orders into our order backlog either."
The announcement follows US President Donald Trump's decision last month to pull the United States out of the landmark 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and major powers that had cleared the way for a relaxation of sanctions on Iran.
Boeing had previously said it would respect US policy on Iran and had pushed back the delivery dates on the Iran planes without commenting directly on deliveries.
Boeing and Airbus were among the companies to receive US Treasury licenses to begin conducting business in Iran under strict oversight after sanctions were eased.
Boeing in December 2016 announced an agreement to sell 80 aircraft valued at $16.6 billion to Iran Air. Boeing also announced a contract in April 2017 to sell Iran Aseman Airlines 30 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft for $3 billion, with purchase rights for another 30 aircraft.
Iran Air expects to take delivery of 11 new aircraft in 2018, but is up against a tight time window because of renewed sanctions against Iran that are expected to come into force in early August.
Nevertheless, Iran Air Managing Director Farzaneh Sharafbafi told Air Transport World on the sidelines of the IATA AGM in Sydney on June 4: “We expect the delivery of eight ATR turboprops and three Airbus aircraft this year.”
ATW believes those aircraft will come from lessors.