A reported deal between Boeing and Iran would convert American-made passenger planes into warplanes for the Middle Eastern country's military and would "subsidize the world's leading state sponsor of terror," three Illinois GOP congressmen insisted Monday in a letter to Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg.
"The greatest beneficiaries of any potential aircraft sale to Iran would be the Islamic Republic's despotic leaders," the letter, written by Pete Roskam, Bob Dold and Randy Hultgren says, reports
Fox News.
"This is not about doing what is legal — it is about doing what is right."
Under the terms of the nuclear deal reached with Iran by the United States and its partner countries, Iran can purchase commercial aircraft.
Earlier this month, Boeing and Iran opened talks a deal allowing Iran to purchase the American-made airliners and aftermarket services, reports
The Wall Street Journal.
The deal could be the largest reached with Tehran since sanctions were lifted in January.
Iran has already signed agreements with European countries, but U.S. companies have held back.
According to a Boeing spokesman, no formal deals were made during those meetings, but Boeing and representatives from Iranian airlines discussed the potential sales of "commercial passenger airplanes and aftermarket services with Iranian airlines approved by the U.S. government."
However, even though the U.S. is allowing talks, further authorization will be needed before Iran can take possession of the planes. The country's national airline, Iran Air, is mainly owned by the Islamic Republic's government.
In their letter, the three congressmen point out that there are several links between the Iranian regime and financing of terror activities, and they say that Iran has used passenger air flights to supply deadly weapons to terrorist organizations.
"We urge you not to be complicit in the likely conversion of Boeing aircraft to IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) warplanes," said the letter.
Roskam, as the House Ways and Means Oversight chairman, has pushed before to ban Western companies such as Boeing from dealing with Iran, including opposing Airbus' $27 billion deal with Iran.
According to
Bloomberg News, Airbus sealed the deal to sell 118 planes on the day nuclear sanctions were lifted.
On Friday, Roskam presented an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, seeking to block the Department of Defense from awarding contracts to any company doing business with Iran.
However, General Electric, among other countries, is also looking into reaching into Iran, reports Fox News.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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