Boeing to supply major airplane parts to Iran

Informed sources announced in Tehran on Saturday that major spare parts of US-made airplanes operating in Iran will be delivered to the country by Boeing and General Electric companies. "The US permission to Boeing and General Electric companies to sell plane spare parts to Iran is mainly related to Iran Air, the country's national flag-carrier," an informed source told FNA on Saturday. He reiterated that once the US companies start supply of plane parts to Iran, European companies will also be persuaded to follow suit. He, however, noted that the process takes between two to three months to be implemented, and problems such as money transfer, shipment of parts and insurance will still persist. Boeing Co, the world's biggest airplane manufacturer, said it received a license this week from the US Treasury Department to export certain spare parts for commercial aircraft to Iran as part of sanctions relief agreement reached in January. A Boeing spokesman said on Friday that the company would now contact Iranian officials to determine which parts were needed. The executive said the license covered only components needed to ensure continued safe flight operations of older Boeing planes sold to Iran before the 1979 Islamic revolution. The license did not allow any discussions about sales of new aircraft to Iran, the spokesman said. Reuters reported in February that Boeing had applied for permission to export the parts to Iran during a six-month wind down agreed by Iran and six world powers in November. On November 24, Iran and the five permanent United Nations Security Council members plus Germany sealed a six-month Joint Plan of Action to lay the groundwork for the full resolution of the West’s decade-old dispute with Iran over the latter's nuclear energy program. In exchange for Tehran’s confidence-building bid to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities, the Sextet of the world powers agreed to lift some of the existing sanctions against Tehran and impose no nuclear-related sanctions on Iran during the six-month period.