Alwaght- Iran's Aseman Airlines has signed a $3 billion deal with Boeing Company to purchase 30 737 MAX aircraft, the first major sale by a U.S. company to the Islamic Republic under new President Donald Trump.
According to The Associated Press, the new agreement comes on top of the $16.6 billion sale Boeing previously made in Iran following the landmark nuclear deal struck with Tehran under the Obama administration. Trump long has criticized the atomic deal, though he toured a Boeing plant in February and touted the firm's work as proof of a coming American manufacturing renaissance.
Chicago-based Boeing said the deal also includes purchase rights for an additional 30 737 MAX aircraft for Tehran-based Aseman, which flies domestic and international routes. It said the first deliveries of the single-aisle aircraft to Aseman would start in 2022.
Aseman spokesman Amir Reza Mostafavi told AP that the deal came following several round of talks over the past year between the airline and Boeing. He said the firms signed the deal March 18 and the first aircraft will be delivered in 2019, contradicting Boeing.
In December the Iranian airline sealed a deal to lease seven planes made by European manufacturer Airbus. Those aircraft are expected to begin arriving next month.
