Before the ink was dry on the Iran deal opponents were warning that not only was it bad but the subsequent volleys by Iran to normalize its oppressive regime on the economic world stage could do more damage than the deal itself.
And we now have a perfect example of what that looks like with Iran coming out and saying it’s signed a deal with Boeing at a deep discount.
From Reuters:
“Boeing has announced that its IranAir contract is worth $16.6 billion. However, considering the nature of our order and its choice possibilities, the purchase contract for 80 Boeing aircraft is worth about 50 percent of that amount,” said Deputy Transport Minister Asghar Fakhrieh-Kashan, quoted by Iran’s IRNA state news agency.
A Boeing spokesman in Dubai was not available to comment.
Airbus’s (AIR.PA) contract to sell 100 jets to IranAir, signed on Thursday, would be worth $18-$20 billion at list prices, but the head of IranAir has been quoted as saying the value of the contract would not exceed $10 billion.
The government of President Hassan Rouhani, a pragmatist, has pushed to finalize aircraft deals to show results from the nuclear accord with world power to end sanctions. He faces criticism at home from hardliners over the cost of the purchases.
Except the criticism at home for Rouhani, “the pragmatist,” is more than worth it to Iran.
The Boeing deal does exactly what Iran and the Obama administration want — seemingly across the board with this administration and oppressive regimes like Cuba and Iran — and paves the way for them to continue their violence and oppression against their own people while at the same time being treated as a normal player on the world stage.
Of course, Boeing’s stock has risen since the announcement of the deal on Thursday, in stark contrast to the dip it took after one tweet from President-elect Donald Trump earlier this month. Proving that business is business. And Boeing and Airbus admittedly need the business.
This outcome, and any normalizing of Iran, can be placed fully on the Obama administration’s shoulders. As we’ve seen from their abstention on the U.N. vote to sanction Israel last week, we can expect them to do nothing but engage in machinations to make relations, from domestic to international, worse before they are escorted out next month.
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