US House of Representatives blocks Boeing sales to Iran

The Republican-weighted US House of Representatives has approved measures to block sale of Boeing aircraft to Iran. Obama is expected to block the House measure.

8 July 2016
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The Republican-weighted US House of Representatives has approved measures to block sale of Boeing aircraft to Iran. Obama is expected to block the House measure.

An Iran Air Boeing 747 passenger plane on the tarmac of Mehrabad Airport in Tehran in 2013. AFP: Behrouz Mehri

The Republican-weighted US House of Representatives has approved measures to block sale of Boeing aircraft to Iran.

The lawmakers voted by voice Thursday to pass two amendments barring Boeing from a deal with Tehran.

Peter Roskam, a Republican lawmaker from Illinois, sponsored the amendment, arguing the three commercial plane models Tehran is supposed to buy are products “that can be used for a military purpose.”

Roskam also repeated the GOP’s anti-Iran stance, calling the country “the world's largest state sponsor of terror.”

 New York Democratic Representative Jose Serrano denounced the move, saying it was part of a broader strategy to attack the Democratic administration President Barack Obama, engaged in negotiations with Tehran along with the governments of five other world powers, Russia, the UK, Germany, China, and France.

According to a memorandum of agreement (MOA) between IranAir and Boeing, a total of 80 aircraft will be sold and a further 29 will be leased with Boeing's support.

After a deal, dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was clinched between Iran and the world powers in Vienna on July 14, 2015, the Republican-weighted US Congress spared no efforts to dismantle it but was faced with resistance from Obama.

Obama is expected to block the latest measure by the Congress, both chambers of which are under the GOP dominance.

A Boeing executive said last month that the White House considers implementation of JCPOA as "critical" for the United States national security.

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