U.S. House Of Representatives Passes Measures That Would Block Sale Of Boeing Aircraft To Iran

Boeing Co BA signed a provisional agreement for the sale or lease of more than 100 of its aircraft to the government of Iran. The deal was reported to have been making progress despite the country still being labeled as a state sponsor of terrorism by the U.S. Department of State. Related Link: Boeing's Deal With Iran: More Than Just Selling Airplanes The deal however suffered a major setback on Friday after the Republican-led House Of Representatives approved measures which would block U.S. companies from selling passenger aircraft to the Islamic regime. According to Reuters, the House voted 239 in favor versus 185 opposed on a financial services spending bill that appears to be aimed directly at Boeing. Rep. Peter Roskam, R-Ill sponsored the bill. He argued that Iran could reconfigure an aircraft to carry 100 ballistic missiles or 15,000 rocket-propelled grenades. On the other side of the aisle, Rep. Jose Serrano, D-NY., suggested that his Republican colleagues are trying to make President Obama's nuclear agreement with Iran look bad. Iran agreed to give up its nuclear program nearly 1 year ago in exchange for an easing and lifting of economic sanctions. An Iranian official told Reuters before the vote that officials in the country's capital are concerned about the legislation which could endanger implementation of the nuclear deal. Ironically, Germany's domestic spy agency said in its annual report this week that Iran's attempts to procure technology "continued on a quantitatively high level by international standards" throughout 2015. The report added, "This was particularly the case for merchandise that could be deployed in the field of nuclear technology."