Article from BTNews 19 DECEMBER 2016
Boeing defends Iran deal
In a move likely to cause friction between Boeing and the incoming Trump administration in the US, the aircraft manufacturer and Iran Air have announced a deal for 80 aircraft including 50 B737 MAX 8s, 15 B777-300ERs and 15 B777-9s.
Boeing says the order, valued at $16.6bn (about £13bn) at list prices, was reached within the terms of the US government licence issued to the company in September and it has co-ordinated closely with the US government throughout the process.
However, president-elect Trump is known to be hostile to the Iranian regime and there have been calls for him to veto the sale. On Thursday, an Israeli advocacy group also asked a US federal court in Illinois to block the deal.
In an attempt to head off criticism, Boeing said the sale will support tens of thousands of American jobs associated directly with production and delivery of the 777-300ERs and nearly 100,000 US jobs in the aerospace value stream.
“Boeing and its more than 13,600 US supplier and vendor partners across all 50 states are proud to ensure America continues to lead in global aerospace and to create jobs and opportunities in communities across the nation,” the company said. “Boeing's US supply chain currently supports more than 1.5m US jobs.”
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