US permits sale of 198 commercial aircraft to Iran

Europe's Airbus Group on Tuesday received a license from the US to sell 118 of its A-330 and A-320 passenger jets to the Iranian national airline, Iran Air. The sale is worth about $11 billion. Washington also gave American aviation giant Boeing a license to sell Iran 80 of its 777 and 737 jetliners. The moves came after the Obama administration announced earlier this month that the president would veto any legislation by Congress to halt trade with Tehran including the passenger jet sale. It claimed such legislation would be contrary to the spirit of the nuclear deal signed with Iran in July 2015.