For the first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Boeing Aerospace and Defense has made a sale to Iran.
The Chicago-based firm announced sales of some $120,000 to Iran that included aircraft manuals, drawings, navigation charts and data.
The items were sold to Iran Air, allegedly to “help improve the safety of Iran’s civil aviation industry,” according to Reuters.
The fact that any American aerospace and defense firm is being allowed to do business with Iran signals a sea change in the United States attitude that does not bode well for the Middle East.
According to the report, both Boeing and General Electric were given permission in April of this year by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control to export parts for commercial aircraft to Iran, under a temporary sanctions relief deal.
Boeing did not indicate whether it had sold parts prior to the current sale, nor whether it planned to sell parts in the future, and declined further comment, the news agency said.
The firm made a net profit of approximately $12,000 in the third quarter on the sale to Iran. Boeing’s total sales for the quarter were reported at $23.7 billion.
Prior U.S. administrations worked tirelessly to persuade the international community to impose heavy sanctions on Iran to force Tehran to curtail its nuclear development activities.
There have been updated, repeated reports from Israeli intelligence warning that Iran is rapidly approaching the nuclear threshold, where a small step will take Tehran into the world of weapons of mass destruction. Alongside those warnings, the Iranian regime itself has stated firmly that it has no intention of slowing down – let alone stopping – its nuclear development program.
And in past years Iranian leaders have made it equally clear they have placed Israel squarely in the cross-hairs for future annihilation.
So what conclusions should Israel’s government draw from Boeing’s latest announcement?
