Image: Boeing 787
A 787 jet takes shape at Boeing’s plant in Everett, Wash. (GeekWire photo by Alan Boyle)

Reports from Tehran suggest that Iran’s flag carrier airline has struck a deal to purchase jetliners from the Boeing Co., which would mark a milestone in U.S. commercial relations with the Islamic Republic.

“In coming days, details of the deal with this company will be announced,” the semi-official Mehr news agency quoted Abbas Akhoundi, Iran’s minister of roads and urban development, as saying today.

The Reuters news agency quoted unnamed sources as saying the deal calls for Iran Air to acquire more than 100 Boeing jets, from the company directly and from leasing companies. Iran Air operates under the umbrella of Akhoundi’s ministry.

Such an arrangement would match Iran Air’s provisional agreement to purchase 118 Airbus jets worth as much as $27 billion. Reuters said that the Airbus agreement, announced in January, still requires export licenses from the United States due to the use of significant U.S. technology.

Sales of U.S. jetliners to Iran have been banned since the revolution and hostage crisis of 1979. The country’s fleet of commercial airliners has become seriously outdated since then due to trade sanctions. By some accounts, Iran Air needs to acquire hundreds of jets to proceed with its modernization plans.

Relations between Washington and Tehran have been warming in the wake of last year’s international agreement to ease sanctions on Iran if it curbed its nuclear program. Nevertheless, any deal with Boeing will face significant hurdles. Financing the purchase will be tricky. There’s also a chance that political objections will cause complications – particularly amid the heat of this year’s U.S. presidential campaign.

Boeing acknowledged that it has conducted talks with Iran Air about potential airplane purchases, with the approval of the U.S. government. But the company declined to go into specifics.

“We do not discuss details of ongoing conversations we are having with customers, and our standard practice is to let customers announce any agreements that are reached,” Boeing spokesman Paul Bergman said in a statement emailed to GeekWire. “Any agreements reached will be contingent on U.S. government approval.”

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