Iran may sue Boeing for not delivering 777s after nuclear deal pullout

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Iran may file an international complaint after Boeing announced it would be illegal for the US manufacturer currently to sell to Tehran.

“Such an act [by Boeing] will not undermine our resolve and they cannot harm us in this way,” Iran's Tasnim news agency quoted MP Taqi Kabiri as saying on Friday.


He added that Tehran will soon file a complaint against Boeing and would use "international, legal and judicial tribunals."

The lawmaker was responding to Boeing announcement on Wednesday that it could not lawfully fill orders to deliver aircraft to Iranian carriers. 

“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,” a spokesman for Boeing had said.

“We did not factor the Iran orders into our order backlog either," added Boeing.

The United States withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in May, reverting to pre-deal sanctions, and adding more which the administration of President Donald Trump claims will stop Iran's "malign" activities and prevent Tehran from weaponizing its nuclear energy program.

Under the sanctions, US entities are also forbidden from doing business with Iranian companies.

“[The US] aerospace giant should have given Iran strong guarantees so that they could not easily walk away from their contracts," said Kabiri, the Iranian MP.


In the final months of former US leader Barack Obama's presidency, Iran and Boeing inked a $16.6 billion deal. 

In December 2016 after Trump's was elected but before he was sworn in, Boeing agreed to deliver 80 aircraft to Iran over the course of 10 years.

The US Treasury Department gave approval for Boeing and France's Airbus to sell planes to Iran in September 2016.


In April 2017 after Trump assumed office, Boeing and Iran's Aseman Airlines announced a contract for the US firm to sell 30 Boeing 737s for $3 billion with an option to purchase another 30.

After Washington pulled out from the nuclear accord, several multinational corporations like France's Total and Airbus, and Denmark's Maersk have announced they no longer can do business with Iran.