The US government, through the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), has issued Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) and Boeing (BOE, Washington National) export licenses thereby allowing them to begin selling aircraft to Iran.

In a statement issued to NPR on Wednesday, September 21, Airbus said it had applied for two licenses of which the first has now been granted. As it stands, the European manufacturer can export seventeen aircraft, A320s and A330s, to IranAir (IR, Tehran Mehrabad). The issuance of the second will allow it to fulfill its order with Iran Air which constitutes: twenty-one A320ceo family jets; twenty-four A320neo family jets; twenty-seven A330ceo family jets; eighteen A330neo (-900) jets; sixteen A350-1000s; and twelve A380-800s.

For its part, Boeing has been granted a licence to export fifteen B777-300(ER)s, fifteen B777-9s, four B747-8s, forty B737 MAX, and six B737 NextGen to Iran Air. The US manufacturer had also applied to lease twenty-nine additional B737s to Iran but it is currently uncertain if this licence covers those aircraft.

Both manufacturers are expected to finalize agreements with the Iranians before deliveries can commence. However, any final agreement must ensure the aircraft will be used exclusively for civilian operations.

"These licenses contain strict conditions to ensure that the planes will be used exclusively for commercial passenger use and cannot be resold or transferred to a designated entity," a Treasury Department spokesperson said.