Unable to negotiate with Boeing, Iran buys 114 Airbus planes from France

(Baonghean.vn) - Iran announced that it will sign a contract to purchase 114 new Airbus aircraft during President Hassan Rohani's visit to France on January 27.

This is also the first official visit to Europe by the Iranian President since the historic nuclear deal was signed and international sanctions were lifted. Mr. Hassan Rohani will depart on January 25 and visit Italy before visiting France.

The Airbus order is significant not only because it is one of Iran’s first concrete steps out of isolation, but also because of a notable political event 36 years ago. The Irangate political scandal involving the US secretly smuggling weapons to Iran during the Iran-Iraq war severely affected the US image in the Middle East.

An Airbus A380 at Bourget airport, France. Photo: Reuters.

Since then, numerous international sanctions (mostly by European countries and the United States) have been imposed on Iran, including preventing the country from acquiring new aircraft.

Iran's Transport Minister Abbas Akhoundi said that Iran currently owns 256 aircraft, of which "150 are in operation with an average age of about 20 years. We need 400 long-haul aircraft and more than 100 short-haul aircraft."

He also said that up to this point Iran has not yet negotiated with the US Boeing corporation due to "some obstacles" from the US Treasury Department.

With a population of 79 million, Iran certainly needs to renew its fleet to serve the needs of international and domestic connections. Currently, only 9 out of 67 airports in Iran are operating effectively and the country’s Transport Minister said that “small short-haul aircraft are needed to increase the efficiency of domestic airports”.

He also announced the signing of a $2 billion contract with China to upgrade the railway connecting the capital Tehran with Mashhad - the country's second largest city and 1,000km from the capital.

Thuc Anh

(According to Le Monde)