TEHRAN- “Iran would take delivery of dozens of European jets it has ordered under a nuclear sanctions deal with major powers, but the transactions could take longer to complete than planned,” Airbus Sales Chief John Leahy announced.

“I think those deals will get fulfilled, maybe not on the original schedule,” Leahy was quoted as saying by Reuters.

The Airbus official, who is due to retire later this month, indicated Airbus would be cautious about building jets for Iran without receiving deposit payments. 

“We have to arrange financing; they have to understand about making pre-delivery payments,” he said, referring to the company’s agreement to sell 100 planes to Iran’s flag carrier Iran Air.

“You have got to make pre-delivery payments where aircraft get into production, so we are doing it on perhaps a lower basis than we thought, but we still believe that it will work out,” he added.

The announcement comes following U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for European allies on Friday to help fix “disastrous flaws” in the pact or face a U.S. exit. Trump has strongly criticized the 2015 deal to lift a raft of sanctions in return for restrictions on Iran’s nuclear activities.

Airbus has secured a batch of export licenses from the U.S. Treasury that expire around the start of the next decade, meaning it would need renewed permission to complete its planned deliveries to Iran, which are scheduled to stretch beyond 2020, Reuters reported.

According to Reuters, Airbus declined to comment on Trump’s latest declaration on Iran, but said it “continues to work with Iran Air and the Iranian authorities on the execution of the purchase agreement signed last year in full compliance with the (nuclear deal) and other regulations”.

The implementation of the nuclear deal in January 2016 led to the removal of sanctions against Iran, allowing the country to purchase hundreds of commercial aircraft from Airbus, Boeing and a number of other companies.

Transport Minister Abbas Akhoundi announced in mid-January 2016 that renovation of Iran Air fleet has begun, adding that according to the contracts with world major plane makers, Iran Air is to receive 200 new planes, of which 100 will be purchased from Airbus and 80 from Boeing.

The first, second and third planes that Iran purchased from the European aviation giant Airbus landed in Tehran on January 12, March 11, and March 25, 2017, respectively, and according to Iran Air’s former Managing Director Farhad Parvaresh the country expected to receive four new Airbus jets in 2017 and five other ones in 2018.

HJ/MA