Iran expects to receive its first jet next month under a multibillion-dollar deal with Airbus for 100 planes, a senior Iranian official said.
Deputy Iranian Roads and Urban Development Minister Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan told Reuters in an interview that the negotiations with Airbus have been finalized and that the deal is expected the be signed on December 20 or 21.
The timetable suggests the first Airbus A321 could arrive before the January 20 inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who has opposed the nuclear deal reached last year between Tehran and six world powers that curbed Iran’s controversial nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
Airbus has said it was still negotiating the deal with Iran Air, the national airliner.
The deal comes after the U.S. Treasury Department in September granted permission to Boeing and Airbus to sell billions of dollars’ worth of aircraft to Iran.
Kashan's comments about Airbus come one week after Iran Air announced it would buy 80 planes from Boeing over the next decade.
