Iran’s minister of roads and urban development said the first delivery of the Airbus aircraft purchased by the country is likely to be made by the end of 2016.
“The first series of Airbus planes will probably arrive in Iran by the end of autumn provided that the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) (of the US Treasury Department) issues the required authorization to Airbus to do so,” said Abbas Akhoundi as cited by Press TV on Wednesday.
Referring to Iran’s jet deal with Boeing, he said that the agreement with the US aviation giant does not mean that the Islamic Republic’s will not proceed its accord with Airbus.
Akhoundi emphasized that Iran is positive that OFAC will issue the authorizations for Airbus to deliver the plans that Iran has purchased from the company.
The Iranian minster also said that talks over the financial issues are in final stages.
In January, Iran signed a major contract with European aviation giant Airbus worth about $27 billion to buy 118 planes within the next few months. The contract was signed during the visit to Paris by Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani.
Iran also sealed a deal in June worth around $25 billion with the US aerospace heavyweight, Boeing, for the purchase of 100 passenger planes.
The deal with Boeing is still facing a possible ban by Congress in what many see as a result of the growing anti-Iran measures adopted by US lawmakers.
Iran is also working on a scheme to purchase planes from the aviation arm of Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Officials in Tehran recently announced that Tokyo has agreed to fund Iran’s purchase of Mitsubishi planes.