Europe delivers 5 more ATR planes to Iran despite U.S. pressures

Source: Xinhua | 2018-08-06

The French-Italian aircraft manufacturer ATR delivered five more turboprops to Iran on Sunday, official IRNA news agency reported.

The ATR 72-600 passenger planes landed at Tehran's international Mehrabad airport on Sunday morning, a day before the return of first round of U.S. sanctions against Iran.

In April 2017, Iran Air signed a contract with ATR to purchase 20 short-haul passenger jets worth 576 million U.S. dollars. Iran had already received eight ATR 72-600 aircraft and deployed them in domestic flights.

After U.S. President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear agreement, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in May, Washington is trying to bring sanctions back on Iran with the aim of blocking Iran's international financial transaction and reducing its oil exports to zero.