Boeing confirms sale of 80 planes to Iran

Following an initial agreement in June, the sale of the planes was given final approval by the US government in September.

Above, an Iran Air Boeing 747 aircraft taxiing at Frankfurt airport in 2008. The carrier had finalised a contract to buy 80 planes from US firm Boeing. Mauritz Antin / EPA
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Boeing has agreed to sell 80 aircraft worth US$16.6 billion at list prices to Iran.

It comes just weeks before the inauguration of president-elect Donald Trump, who has criticised the nuclear accord with Iran. The sale, which includes 50 737 MAX 8s, 15 777-300ERs and 15 777-9s, is the first of its kind since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. “Boeing coordinated closely with the US government throughout the process leading up to the sale, and continues to follow all licence requirements as it moves forward to implement the sales agreement,” the US plane maker said in a statement that confirmed an earlier report by the Irna news agency.

“Today’s agreement will support tens of thousands of US jobs directly associated with production and delivery of the 777-300ERs, and nearly 100,000 US jobs in the US aerospace value stream for the full course of deliveries,” Boeing said in the statement. The first planes under the agreement are scheduled for delivery in early 2018.

The deal comes just days after Mr Trump took a swipe at Boeing over the cost of the new Air Force One.“Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!” Mr Trump tweeted on Tuesday.

The US government in September granted permission to Boeing to sell aircraft to Tehran after the US and other countries agreed to lift sanctions in exchange for it ceasing its nuclear programme.

Mr Trump has been fiercely critical of the deal.

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