Second plane bought under sanctions deal arrives in Iran

An Airbus A330 airliner arrived in Tehran on Saturday, the second of 200 Western-built passenger aircraft ordered by IranAir following the lifting of sanctions on Iran last year.

The long-haul aircraft, carrying IranAir Chairman Farhad Parvaresh and other officials, landed at Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport, the official news agency IRNA reported.

The A330 was handed over in Toulouse, France on Friday and joins a smaller A321 delivered to Iran earlier this year.

Iran has ordered 100 airliners from European planemaker Airbus and 80 from Boeing and is in talks to finalise a deal to buy 20 turboprop aircraft from ATR, jointly owned by Airbus and Italy’s Leonardo Finmeccanica. The country has not directly purchased a Western-built plane in nearly 40 years, the one exception being the sale of an Airbus to replace one shot down by the US Navy in 1988.

The A330 is expected to be used initially on European routes and on flights to Beijing and Kuala Lumpur.

Uncertainty remains over the timing of the rest of the orders as banks shy away from deals with Iran, fearing a “snapback” of international sanctions or US fines if they are deemed to be breaking US sanctions that remain in force.