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DUBAI, June 19 (Reuters) - Iran has reached a deal to buy
100 planes from U.S. planemaker Boeing, and the two sides
are awaiting approval by U.S. Treasury authorities, the head of
Iran's Civil Aviation Organisation said in remarks published by
state media on Sunday.
So far, Boeing has only been granted permission to present
its products to IranAir and a handful of other airlines as it
tries to catch up with Europe's Airbus, which won a
provisional deal earlier this year for 118 jets worth $27
billion.
Reuters reported on June 6 that Iran was edging towards a
historic agreement to buy jetliners from Boeing for the first
time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and that a deal for more
than 100 aircraft could be reached fairly soon.
"Of the 250 (passenger) planes in Iran, 230 have to be
replaced," Ali Abedzadeh, the head of Iran's Civil Aviation
Organisation, told the state-run daily newspaper Iran, adding
that a written agreement had been signed with Boeing to buy 100
aircraft.
Abedzadeh said that no precise timeline could be given for
the implementation of the deal before an authorisation is issued
by the U.S. Treasury Department.
He said Boeing had submitted an official request to the U.S.
Treasury for a final permit for the plane sales and "the final
contract is to be signed between the two sides after the license
has been obtained."
In January, IranAir agreed in to buy 118 jets worth $27
billion at list prices from Airbus. The deal was conditional on
U.S. export licenses because of the quantity of U.S.-built
parts.
In comments about the Airbus purchases, Abedzadeh told the
Iran newspaper "The final obstacle in this area are only the
permits from the U.S. Treasury Department."
(Reporting by Dubai Newsroom; Editing by William Maclean and
Andrew Heavens)
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