Concerns in the financial community about doing deals in Iran are hampering Airbus Group SE’s ability to close a multibillion-dollar aircraft deal with Tehran, the European plane maker’s head of sales said Wednesday.
“We have to find ways to get money out of Iran through the banking system,” said John Leahy, Airbus Chief Operating Officer for customers.
Banks remain reluctant to do deals now that the U.S. and European governments are looking to foster transactions, after facing fines imposed by U.S. regulators on lenders with Iran dealings when western sanctions were in place.
“They are all very shy,” Mr. Leahy said.

Mr. Leahy said Iran has “an ancient fleet” that needs replacing and will enjoy growth as the country’s economy recovers.
Iran Air Chief Executive Farhad Parvaresh acknowledged that the banking issue is one of the biggest hurdles to closing plane deals.
The banking issue goes beyond the airplane sector. Oil companies also have struggled to line up big banks to back deals. They have, in some cases, had to resort to barter arrangements or using smaller banks.
That is a system also working for plane makers.
The Airbus deal is far larger, though, making it more difficult to work without big financial institutions. Iran announced a deal to buy 118 airliners from Airbus valued at $27 billion at list price. The deal, which hasn’t been completed yet, includes everything from Airbus single-aisle planes to 12 of its flagship A380 superjumbos, which carry a list price of $432.6 million, though buyers typically get discounts.
 “If you don’t sort it out, there aren’t going to be any deals done,” Mr. Leahy said.
The delay is limiting Airbus’s ability to quickly satisfy some of Iran Air’s most immediate demands, Mr. Leahy indicated. Though planes are available for delivery, the number has dwindled.
The reluctance of bankers isn’t the only obstacle to completing agreements for jetliner sales. Airbus and others are still waiting approval to sell their planes from the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. Mr. de Castalbajac said a decision was expected months ago. The U.S. government is facing a flood of license applications, not just for aircraft deals, he said.
 Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in May, “Major European banks have not yet started their interactions with Iranian banks, but some medium- and small-sized financial institutions have established relations, including opening letters of credit.”
He accused “lobbies” in the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia of stirring up animosity towards Iran to prevent it from reaping the benefits of the landmark nuclear deal signed last July.
When the agreement came into effect in January, Washington lifted sanctions directly related to Tehran’s nuclear program but it maintained others imposed over its ballistic missile program and its alleged support of “terror” groups.
Several European banks have received massive fines in the United States in the past after being found guilty of violating U.S. sanctions against Iran and all remain wary of incurring similar punishment.
Source: WSJ, Asharq Al-Awsat, 2June 2016