US grants Airbus licence to sell 106 aircraft to Iran

WASHINGTON: The United States has issued a licence to France´s Airbus for the sale of 106 commercial planes to the Iran Air, Iran´s flagship carrier, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

The move in the waning months of Democratic President Barack Obama´s administration to further unlock jetliner sales to Iran is likely to raise the ire of the Republicans in the Congress and President-elect Donald Trump. 

Trump has said he would dismantle the 2015 international nuclear deal with Iran, which includes a measure allowing US and European companies to sell Iran civilian aircraft. The US Treasury´s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued the license on Monday, the source said on condition of anonymity. An Airbus spokesman confirmed that the company had received the OFAC licence, but declined to confirm the exact number of planes approved.

Although the Airbus is based in France, it must have US approval to sell planes to Iran because at least 10 per cent of the aircraft´s components are American-made. Tehran provisionally ordered more than 100 jets each from Airbus and Boeing this year.