Iran has completed an agreement with a foreign leasing company to finance the purchase of the first 17 aircraft the country plans to purchase from Airbus. While Iranian officials did not name the leasing company, industry sources said that Iran had been negotiating with United Arab Emirates' Dubai Aerospace on a financing deal. Under the agreement, the leasing company would assume the initial part of Iran's order from Airbus and then lease the jets to Iran.
News Briefs
October 28, 2016
Two Los Angeles-area men, Zavik Zargarian and Vache Nayirian, were arrested on October 26, 2016 for conspiring to smuggle over $3 million of military aircraft parts to Iran. Zargarian's company, ZNC Engineering, is also named in the indictment, along with Hanri Tarminassian and Hormuz Nowrouz, who are both believed to be in Iran. According to the indictment, Zargarian acted on behalf of Tarminassian to acquire military aircraft parts from U.S. based suppliers, which included parts for F-14, F-15, F-16, and F-18 fighter jets. The defendants also allegedly conspired to ship fluorocarbon rubber O-rings, which have miltiary applications, to the Iranian Air Force, via transshipment through Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
-- Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California
October 13, 2016
Russia completed its delivery of the S-300 air defense system to Iran, according to Russia's state-owned arms exporter. In 2010, Russia had cancelled the contract for the S-300s under diplomatic pressure from the United States and Israel, but Russian President Vladimir Putin ended the self-imposed ban on the sale of the system to Iran in 2015. Delivery of the components of the S-300 to Iran began in April 2016.
-- Reuters
October 8, 2016
The U.S. Treasury Department issued new guidance on October 7 that eased restrictions on Iran's ability to trade in dollars and on the ability of foreign companies to do business with Iranian entities sanctioned by the United States. According to the new guidance, the United States will not necessarily sanction foreign firms for conducting transactions with companies owned or controlled by blacklisted Iranian entities, provided the sanctioned entity is not the controlling stakeholder. The new guidance also clarifies that Iran can access dollars through non-U.S. financial institutions, as long as those transactions do not transit the U.S. financial system.
-- Wall Street Journal
September 29, 2016
The Obama administration supported the early lifting of United Nations sanctions on two Iranian state banks, Bank Sepah and Bank Sepah International, as part of a series of agreements finalized between the United States and Iran on January 17, the day after the nuclear agreement went into effect. The two banks, which have been linked to financing for Iran's ballistic missile program, were not initially set to be removed from the U.N. blacklist until 2023. The package of agreements also included a prisoner exchange and the transfer of $1.7 billion in cash to Iran to settle a failed arms deal from 1979.
-- Wall Street Journal
September 21, 2016
The U.S. Treasury Department granted licenses to aircraft manufacturers Airbus and Boeing on September 21 that will allow them to sell plans to Iran. Airbus applied for two licenses and received the first, which covers 17 planes, including A320s and A330s, out of an overall announced deal to sell 118 planes to national carrier Iran Air. Boeing received a license to sell 80 aircraft to Iran Air, including 737s, 777s, and 747s.
-- New York Times
September 12, 2016
On September 10, 2016, Russia and Iran inaugurated the construction site for units 2 and 3 of the Bushehr nuclear power plant. Both units will be VVER-1000 reactors built by Rosatom subsidiary AtomStroyExport (ASE) in collaboration with Nuclear Power Production and Development Company of Iran. Units 2 and 3 are expected to start-up in October 2024 and April 2026, respectively. The event was led by Rosatom director general Sergey Kirienko and the first vice president of Iran Ishak Jahangiri. Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) president Ali Akbar Salehi and ASE director Valery Limarenko were also in attendance.
-- World Nuclear News
September 8, 2016
The most recent International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report on Iran's implementation of the nuclear agreement noted that Iran is manufacturing rotor tubes for centrifuges. The IAEA is undertaking "related technical discussions" with Iran on this production, which is restricted by the agreement.
-- Associated Press
September 6, 2016
The Obama administration sent an additional $1.3 billion in cash to Iran, following a $400 million payment that U.S. officials have acknowledged was used as leverage for the release of prisoners. The $1.3 billion came in two separate installments of Swiss francs, euros, and other currencies collected by Iran in Switzerland on January 22 and February 5. The Obama Administration said the $1.3 billion was additional interest from the settlement of a 1979 arms deal with Iran.
-- Wall Street Journal
September 3, 2016
Two leading Iranian banks have declined to engage in transactions with companies affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), according to a report in the Iranian hard-line daily newspaper Kayhan. Bank Mellat reportedly refused to transfer foreign currency on behalf of Khatam al-Anbia, an IRGC-owned group of companies that is the largest contractor for government construction. The report also stated that Bank Sepah, a state-owned financial institution, declined to provide a letter of guarantee for a firm affiliated with Khatam al-Anbia. Both banks cited the international sanctions imposed on the companies, according to the report.
-- Associated Press