"Ports and Maritime Organization is also planning to hold a tender to purchase three search-and-rescue helicopters," he added. An Airbus Helicopters spokesman said: "We don''t comment on discussions we may or may not be having with potential customers".
Iran has ordered more than 200 planes since international sanctions against the country were lifted last year in return for curbs on the country''s nuclear activities. Flag-carrier IranAir has ordered 100 planes from Airbus, 80 from US rival Boeing (BA.N) and 20 ATR turboprops, but implementing the deals has been hampered by uncertainty over financing.
On Thursday, US President Donald Trump said he did not believe that Iran was living up to the spirit of the 2015 deal to curtail its nuclear weapons programme. But it was not immediately clear whether Washington may take measures that could affect Tehran''s plane purchases.
In June, Airbus said two other Iranian airlines had committed to buying 73 planes in a last-minute flurry of deals for the aircraft manufacturer at the Paris Airshow. Fakhrieh-Kashan said Iran was holding negotiations to merge the helicopter order into the IranAir-Airbus contract signed in December, Financial Tribune reported.
Copyright Reuters, 2017