Eye on Iran: Boeing Signs Deal to Sell Jets to Iran's State Airline

Join UANI               Top Stories WSJ: "Boeing Co. on Tuesday said it had signed a tentative agreement to sell jetliners to Iran, in what would be one of the Islamic republic's biggest deals with a U.S. manufacturer since trade sanctions on Tehran were eased. The proposed deal comes after months of talks between Boeing and Iran Air about a deal. Details of the potential transaction haven't been disclosed by Boeing, although Iranian Transport Minister Abbas Akhoundi told state television Tuesday that the deal could have a value of up to $25 billion, according to the Associated Press. 'Boeing confirms the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement with Iran Air expressing the airline's intent to purchase Boeing commercial passenger airplanes,' the world's largest plane maker said. Iran's airlines have indicated a dire need for both medium-haul jets like Boeing's single-aisle 737 and long-haul aircraft like its 777 and 787 Dreamliners. State-owned Iran Air Monday said it planned to lease 737 and 777 planes pending approval from its own government and the U.S. Completing an agreement with Iran Air could take months, amid continued uncertainty from lenders about financing deals with Iran and the need for the U.S. government to sign off on any sale. The potential plane sale isn't without critics. Two U.S. Congressmen, Jeb Hensarling (R., Texas) and Peter Roskam (R., Ill.), last week sent a letter to Boeing expressing concern a plane deal could aid Iran's military. 'Iran's commercial aviation sector is deeply involved in supporting hostile actors,' they said in the letter in which they requested information to assess the national security implications of selling planes to Iran. 'Boeing will continue to follow the lead of the U.S. Government with regards to working with Iran's airlines, and any and all contracts with Iran's airlines will be contingent upon U.S. Government approval,' the Chicago-based plane maker said." http://t.uani.com/28M5U5P NYT: "Threats issued on Monday by a senior Iranian commander to the Sunni-led island state of Bahrain seemed to indicate that Iran was prepared to support an armed uprising there, after the Bahraini authorities revoked the citizenship of a leading Shiite opposition cleric. In a statement, the commander, Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the high-profile leader of the elite Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, denounced the 'mistreatment' of the cleric and threatened Bahrain with 'a bloody intifada.' Bahrain's leaders have accused the Quds Force of sending weapons to local insurgents, which Iran denies. But General Soleimani's explosive remarks suggested that Tehran was losing patience. The action against the cleric, Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim, 'is a red line, and passing this red line will create flames of fire in Bahrain and the entire region,' General Soleimani said. 'And the people will have no choice but armed resistance.' The statement, coming from General Soleimani, who is leading the country's military efforts in Syria and Iraq, was widely perceived as a serious threat. 'This shows that we have a new strategy of supporting an intifada in Bahrain,' said Hamidreza Taraghi, a political analyst close to Iran's leadership." http://t.uani.com/28R0nbF FT: "The withdrawal of many economic and financial sanctions in Iran has reopened the county's economy to a stream of new investments. Data from fDi Markets, an FT service that monitors cross-border greenfield investment, shows that before the lifting of sanctions, Iran was ranked 12th out of the 14 Middle East nations for FDI between January 2003 and December 2015, equating to a market share of 1.62 per cent. Since sanctions were lifted this year, Iran has climbed to number three in the rankings, with a market share of 11.11 per cent, placed only behind regional powerhouses the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia... Global investment into Iran has been steadily increasing since 2013, a year in which the country attracted just three FDI projects. This increased to eight in 2014 and nine in 2015. It was in the first quarter of 2016, however, that the impact of sanction relief became evident. Iran won 22 FDI projects during the quarter, the highest rate of investment since fDi Markets began recording data in 2003." http://t.uani.com/28ITBUu Sanctions Enforcement Reuters: "A wealthy Turkish gold trader accused of conducting hundreds of millions of dollars in transactions on behalf of Iran's government and Iranian entities in a scheme to evade U.S. sanctions was scheduled to face trial in January on Monday. U.S. District Judge Richard Berman in Manhattan set a Jan. 23 trial date for Reza Zarrab, 33, who was arrested in Florida in March while en route to Disney World with his wife and daughter. The trial's scheduling came after the judge on Thursday denied Zarrab's bail request, in which the defendant sought to be released on a $50 million bond and be held in a Manhattan apartment under 24-hour watch by armed guards at his own expense." http://t.uani.com/28KAjfR Sanctions Relief AP: "Earlier Tuesday, Iran's Transportation Minister Abbas Akhoundi said possible deals between the Islamic Republic and Boeing could be worth as much as $25 billion, on par with the country's earlier agreement with its European rival, Airbus... 'The initial talks were held and I can say Boeing is negotiating with the U.S. officials and possibly the amount of our purchase is equal to Airbus,' Akhoundi said. If the deal goes through, he said the first Boeing plane could arrive in Iran in October. The overall size of the proposed Boeing sale to Iran remains unclear. Ali Abedzadeh, the head of Iran's Civil Aviation Organization, was quoted Sunday by the state-run IRAN newspaper as saying the sale would involve 100 Boeing aircraft, something the manufacturer has declined to discuss. Boeing has been cautious about entering Iran's market as other sanctions remain in place against Tehran. American officials had said as recently as last weekend that the sale would need permission from the U.S. Treasury. It's unclear what changed in the last few days. Treasury officials could not be immediately reached for comment. It is likely Boeing may run the sale through an overseas subsidiary and use a currency other than U.S. dollars in order to avoid running afoul of American laws." http://t.uani.com/28KwDer Terrorism Toronto Star: "The tiny house on Sheppard Ave. W. may be vacant and run-down, but the story behind it is replete with terrorism, international intrigue and diplomatic headaches. An Ontario court found that the building - as well as another empty property in Ottawa and two bank accounts - is owned by the Islamic Republic of Iran. And last week, a Toronto judge dismissed the country's arguments of state immunity from seizure of property and ordered that the assets be turned over to American victims of Iran-sponsored terrorism who have won cases against Iran in U.S. courts. The complex case and subsequent ruling comes as the federal government is looking to re-establish diplomatic relations with Tehran that were cut off by the Conservative government in 2012. It also highlights the little-known fact that federal legislation allows for victims of state-sponsored terrorism from other countries, and their families, to ask Canadian courts to seize Iranian assets here if they can prove their case." http://t.uani.com/28LbByr AP: "Iran said Monday it broke up one of the 'biggest terrorist plots' ever on its soil by Sunni extremists planning bombings in Tehran and elsewhere, emphasizing that the Shiite power could be facing threats at home for its military actions in Iraq and Syria. Iran faces several low-level insurgencies, but a major militant attack hasn't struck Tehran since the years immediately following its 1979 Islamic Revolution. That fact, coupled with authorities' suggestions the Sunni militants of the Islamic State group may be behind the plot, significantly raises the danger that Iran could face the same sectarian violence drowning Iraq and Syria, where its actions have earned the hatred of Sunni hard-liners. 'I don't think anyone should be surprised if anything like this were to happen in Iran,' said Ellie Geranmayeh, a policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations." http://t.uani.com/28Nb7Ja Opinion & Analysis David Albright, Serena Kelleher-Vergantini & Andrea Stricker in ISIS: "Will the IAEA gain access to military sites in Iran to verify Iran's safeguards obligations and the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action's (JCPOA) ban on weaponization activities?  Verifying this ban in particular will require Iran to offer much greater cooperation than it has so far been willing to offer.   The IAEA's most recent safeguards report contains little information on these important topics.  In its next quarterly safeguards report, the IAEA should fully report whether Iran is in compliance with the JCPOA's weaponization bans." http://t.uani.com/28Mr7e2         Eye on Iran is a periodic news summary from United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) a program of the American Coalition Against Nuclear Iran, Inc., a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Eye on Iran is not intended as a comprehensive media clips summary but rather a selection of media elements with discreet analysis in a PDA friendly format. For more information please email Press@UnitedAgainstNuclearIran.com United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) is a non-partisan, broad-based coalition that is united in a commitment to prevent Iran from fulfilling its ambition to become a regional super-power possessing nuclear weapons.  UANI is an issue-based coalition in which each coalition member will have its own interests as well as the collective goal of advancing an Iran free of nuclear weapons.