(AP-ABC News) Bradley Klapper and Matthew Lee - Boeing Co.'s $25 billion deal with Iran Air potentially rides on hopes that Tehran would stop using the planes to ferry fighters and weapons across the Middle East. Five years ago, the Obama administration imposed sanctions on Iran Air for using passenger and cargo planes to transport rockets and missiles to places such as Syria, sometimes disguised as medicine or spare parts, the Treasury Department said at the time. In other instances, Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps took control of flights carrying sensitive cargo. Although U.S. officials never have said such conduct ended, the administration used a technicality to drop those penalties as part of last year's nuclear deal. State Department spokesman John Kirby said Thursday that the aircraft sale and any future deals depend on Iran's good behavior. The U.S. could revoke the license for the deal if planes, parts or services are "used for purposes other than exclusively civil aviation end-use" or if aircraft are transferred to individuals or companies on a U.S. terrorism blacklist.
2016-06-24 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive