U.S. declines to say if Boeing has license to sell planes to Iran

The U.S. State Department said on Tuesday it could not address whether Boeing has obtained a license to sell commercial aircraft to Iran, but a spokesman said the Iran deal allows licensing of commercial aircraft sales on a case-by-case basis.

The department commented after Iran said it had reached an agreement with Boeing Co. for the supply of jetliners, reopening the country's skies to new U.S. aircraft for the first time in decades under an international deal to ease sanctions.

State Department spokesman John Kirby, while declining to address specific reports involving private companies, said the Iran deal included a statement that "allowed for a case-by-case licensing of individuals and entities seeking to export, re-export, sell, lease or transfer to Iran commercial passenger aircraft ... exclusively for commercial passenger aviation."