Boeing executives are mischaracterizing Congressional efforts to block a controversial $25 billion aircraft sale to Iran, according to lawmakers who spoke to THE WEEKLY STANDARD about statements by executives from the aerospace company.
The lawmakers reiterated calls on Boeing to drop its planned sale to Iran Air, whose planes have been used by the Iranian military to transport weapons, according to the Obama administration. The House overwhelmingly passed legislation last week prohibiting the Treasury Department from letting the sale move forward.
Boeing executives said after the House vote that any restrictions on their company should also apply to competitors.
“If we’re not allowed to go forward, then sure as heck no other U.S. company should be allowed to go forward either,” said Boeing’s CEO of commercial aircraft, Ray Conner. Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg told CNBC that Boeing wanted “equal treatment.”
Lawmakers told TWS that Boeing was not being singled out, and condemned the company for not backing away from the sale.
“I don’t know exactly what [Conner] is trying to say,” said Texas congressman Jeb Hensarling, chairman of the Financial Services Committee. “There’s only one carve-out in the [nuclear deal] that I’m aware of and that’s for aircraft sales, and anybody who has 10 percent content would be subject to the same bill.”
Hensarling praised Lockheed Martin, an American defense contractor that has announced it will not do business with Iran. “All I can say is how proud I am of Lockheed, that said they would not be selling to the Iranians,” Hensarling said.
Congressman Mike Pompeo of Kansas told TWS that Boeing’s statement ultimately fell in line with the legislation’s objective of blocking U.S. aircraft sales to Iran.
“I agree with Boeing that the Obama administration should never be in the business of picking winners and losers, and certainly not when it comes to selling goods to the largest state sponsor of terrorism: the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Pompeo said. “Such deals are not in our nation’s best interest, and they are also not in the best interest of these companies and their employees. In addition to the moral repercussions, selling to Iran would harm any company’s reputation and financial standing.”
Other lawmakers said Congress is also moving against foreign airline companies pursuing sales to Iran.
“Airbus is under the same review that Boeing would be,” Congressman Bill Huizenga of Michigan told TWS, referring to the European company that signed a sizable aircraft agreement with Iran. “I am equally opposed to the Iranian government getting either Boeing or Airbus.”
A senior official at a Washington, D.C. organization closely involved in the Boeing debate told TWS that Boeing may be hedging its bets in the face of Congressional opposition.
“Boeing executives and lobbyists had never even suggested that there was any alternative to the deal,” said the source. “Now if you listen to their public statements they’re saying they still intend to go through with the deal, but that they’ve also got this Plan B they’re going to push in case Congressional opposition ends up being too strong.”
Statements from lawmakers on Wednesday suggested that opposition was deepening in the aftermath of the new Boeing statements.
“[Muilenburg] didn’t say look, we’ve got this under control. He didn’t say, we’re positive that nothing is going to be used for terrorism. He didn’t say that this wouldn’t jeopardize national security. He just said, if we can’t do it, nobody should be able to do it,” Illinois congressman Peter Roskam said during remarks on the House floor. “Well look, I agree. If Boeing can’t do it, nobody should be able to do it.”
Roskam’s amendment, which passed last week, would block the sale of U.S. aircraft to Iran by prohibiting the Treasury Department from licensing such sales. Foreign companies whose planes contain 10 percent or more of American parts are also subject to U.S. export controls and must obtain a U.S. license before exporting their aircraft to Iran.
Critics of the agreement warn that the planes will be used for terrorism. Iran Air was sanctioned by the Obama administration in 2011 for transporting weapons on behalf of Iranian-linked terror entities such as Syrian President Bashar al Assad. Experts have noted that Iran Air is still flying weapons routes to Damascus.
