TEHRAN- Iran is expecting the first Airbus - an A321 jetliner - to be delivered this Thursday, IRIB news quoted Farhad Parvaresh, managing director of Iran’s flag carrier Iran Air as saying on Sunday .

The incoming aircraft is to be used for domestic flights, Parvaresh added.

As Reuters reported, Airbus said on Sunday Iran's state airline Iran Air had accepted its first new jet, marking a key step in opening up trade under a nuclear sanctions deal between Iran and major powers.

The Airbus A321 jetliner has been painted in Iran Air livery.

"The technical acceptance has been done with formal delivery still to be done," an Airbus spokesman said.

A spokesman for Iran's civil aviation authority said the aircraft had been placed on the country's aircraft register, indicating Iran Air had taken ownership of the aircraft, the first of around 200 Western aircraft ordered since sanctions were lifted. 

During a visit by President Hassan Rouhani to Paris in January 2016, Iran provisionally ordered 118 Airbus jets worth $27 billion.

HJ/MA