Iran has reached an agreement with U.S. plane-maker Boeing to buy 100 planes, and the two sides are awaiting approval by U.S. Treasury authorities, the head of Iran's Civil Aviation Organization said in remarks published by a state-run Iranian newspaper on Sunday.

"Of the 250 (passenger) planes in Iran, 230 have to be replaced," Ali Abedzadeh told the daily Iran, adding that a written agreement had been signed with Boeing to buy 100 aircraft.

So far, Boeing has only been granted permission to present its products to Iran Air and a handful of other airlines as it tries to catch up with Europe's Airbus, which earlier this year won a provisional deal for 118 jets worth $27 billion.

Reuters reported on June 6 that Iran was edging toward a historic deal to buy jetliners from Boeing for the first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and that a deal for more than 100 aircraft could be reached fairly soon.

(Source: Reuters)