Tehran (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Boeing, the giant U.S. aircraft manufacturer, will sell Iran some
components, possibly replacing the damaged and obsolete aircraft parts of the national
airline . This
was announced today a company spokesman, after the U.S. Treasury Department granted
the company a license to export. Boeing
has had no relations with Tehran since the Khomeini revolution in 1979.
The
gesture is seen as part of the
agreement signed on 24 November 2013, by the U.S., Russia, China,
France, Britain, Germany and Iran, which provides for an easing of sanctions on
Tehran in exchange for a freeze on uranium enrichment and
a greater UN control of the nuclear sites.
The
national airline Iran Air still uses
planes bought before the crisis of 1979, when Iran held 52 Americans hostage
for 444 days. For
a long time the country has objected to the sanctions relating to the renewal
of its fleet of aircraft, explaining that they only made the aircraft more
dangerous.
Over
the past 25 years there have been more than 200 incidents with Iranian planes,
which has cost the lives of over 2 thousand people.
Boeing
said that the license covers only the components necessary to secure the
current flight operations with the aircraft sold before the revolution of 1979.
For
the moment, there is no agreement for the sale of new vehicles, but if the deal
is confirmed it is possible that Iran could ask for hundreds of new aircraft.