U.S. Blocks Sale of Planes to Iran

Britain and the United States were at loggerheads Monday after Washington blocked a multimillion-dollar British deal to sell airliners to Iran.

A spokesman for Britain’s Department of Trade and Industry accused Washington of failing to act even-handedly in the deal involving four short-haul BAe-146 aircraft and spares made by British Aerospace PLC, Britain’s biggest engineering company.

In Washington, a U.S. Commerce Department official said U.S. law prohibits comment on specific cases. But the spokesman said Bush Administration policy was to bar the export of aircraft with 10% or more of U.S. parts on its export-control list to nations under trade sanctions. Iran is under sanctions because its support of terrorism.

“The BAe-146 package was worth about $150 million, with an option for another eight aircraft. We were hopeful that this would develop into something bigger,” a senior BAe official said.

“It would have been a breakthrough for us. We were very disappointed,” he added.