US Exit From Iran Pact Halts Boeing And Airbus Deals

Window closes for aircraft sales by plane making duopolists

- Julie Johnsson and Benjamin Katz

The U.S. withdrawal from a nuclear accord with Iran slams shut what had been a brief opening for historic aircraft sales by Boeing Co. and Airbus SE to the country.

President Donald Trump’s announcement that the U.S would seek to reimpose sanctions left little hope that the planemaking duopolists will be able to consummate $40 billion in aircraft deals struck by Iranian carriers during the brief trade thaw. Both companies’ export licenses to Iran will be revoked, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters.

The plane orders, badly needed to upgrade the Islamic Republic’s museum-vintage airliners, would have had the potential to build Tehran into an aviation hub that could better compete with Dubai and Qatar, the region’s aviation super powers.