NEW YORK: Boeing will not deliver aircraft to Iran in light of US sanctions, effectively aborting a pair of large contracts with Iranian carriers, a Boeing spokesman said Wednesday.

“We have not delivered any aircraft to Iran, and given we no longer have a license to sell to Iran at this time, we will not be delivering any aircraft,” the Boeing spokesman said.

“We did not factor the Iran orders into our order backlog either.”

The announcement follows President Donald Trump’s decision last month to pull the United States out of the landmark 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and major powers that had cleared the way for a relaxation of sanctions on Iran.

Boeing had previously said it would respect US policy on Iran and had pushed back the delivery dates on the Iran planes without commenting directly on deliveries.

Boeing and Airbus were among the companies to receive US Treasury licenses to begin conducting business in Iran under strict oversight after sanctions were eased.

Published in Dawn, June 7th, 2018