TEHRAN, August 5 - Iran has received five more ATR turboprop airplanes only a day before the return of US sanctions that have already torpedoed the country’s plane purchases with other major providers.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - The planes that had left France’s Toulouse earlier in the day landed in Tehran’s International Mehrabad Airport on Sunday morning after a short stop for refueling in the northwestern city of Urmia.
They brought to 13 the total number of ATRs so far delivered to Iran’s flag carrier Iran Air.
Last April, Iran Air sealed a deal with the Franco-Italian company to purchase a total of 20 planes at a total price tag of $400 million.
The agreement came after restrictions on Iran’s aviation industry were lifted following the implementation of the 2015 nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
In May, US President Donald Trump said he would pull America out of the JCPOA and re-impose sanctions against Iran.
The first wave of sanctions – that would return on August 6 – would include a universal ban on Iran’s access to the US dollar as well as prohibitions against the country’s trade in gold and other precious metals among other restrictions.
The second wave of sanctions that would hit in early November would be meant to bring Iran’s oil exports to zero, as US officials have already acknowledged.
Source: Press TV