A high-profile contract recently finalized with Airbus to purchase 100 airliners carries a "positive" message that the path is now clear for deeper engagement between Iran and Europe months after sanctions were eased under the nuclear pact, a lawmaker said.
"The purchase deal with Airbus for 100 passenger aircraft sends a positive, good signal and message to Europeans that the path has been cleared for trade cooperation with Iran," Morteza Saffari also said in an interview with ICANA on Monday.
"The implementation of the contract means that the banking problems impeding commercial ties have been resolved."
Such a deal would be worth $18-20 billion at list prices, depending on variants flown, but Iran is expected to receive steep discounts from foreign manufacturers as its aviation renewal coincides with a drop in demand elsewhere.
The Islamic Republic's aviation officials have said the value of the contract would not exceed $10 billion, Reuters reported.
The first jet, an Airbus A321 already painted in Iran Air livery, may arrive before the Jan. 20 inauguration of US president-elect, Donald Trump, who has opposed the international nuclear accord that curbed Iran's nuclear activities in return for sanctions relief.
US Republican critics of the nuclear agreement want Trump to block the aircraft deals with the aviation giants Airbus and Boeing, and have sought to hamper them by voting to tighten restrictions on the use of the US financial system.
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