Dubai: Boeing Co. will seek an extension from the United States government to sell aeroplane parts to Iran if negotiations between world powers and the Islamic Republic are extended next week.

In April, Boeing was granted a license to export spare parts for commercial aircraft by the US Treasury Department. The license was granted, and later extended until the end of the year, as a part of negotiations that are trading off sanction relief for a curbing of Tehran’s nuclear programme.

However, negotiations between the six powers — United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany — and Iran could now be extended if the November 24 deadline is not met.

“We are very supportive of operating within the guidelines and if we can get the license extended in support of our customers then we would plan to do that,” said Marty A. Bentrott, senior vice president international sales at Boeing, in an interview on Wednesday.

Bentrott spoke to Gulf News on the sidelines of the Arab Air Carriers Organisation’s Annual General Meeting held in Dubai this week.

“They are operating a number of aeroplanes that are very old and so being able to access spare parts for those aeroplanes is very important,” Bentrott said when asked how urgently Iran needed the spare parts.

Last month, Boeing said sales of spare parts to the Islamic Republic’s national carrier, Iran Air, generated $120,000 in revenue for the company, and $12,000 in gross profit. At the time Boeing said it could sell more parts to Iran.

Bentrott also said the United States-based aeroplane manufacturer has not obtained a clearer understanding of Iran’s commercial aeroplane needs since it was granted the license earlier this year.

“We have not been able to get into detailed discussions,” he said.

Boeing is not allowed to sell planes to Iran under current sanctions.

The license granted by the US Treasury to Boeing to sell the parts to Iran was part of three-decade cooling in ties between world powers and Iran as part of a broader package of sanction relief.

Last week, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich was quoted lby the Interfax news agency as saying more time could be needed for the negotiations.

Bentrott also said Boeing reached an agreement with the government of Iraq earlier this year delaying the delivery of four 737’s to national carrier Iraqi Airways. He added that delivery dates for each aircraft have been pushed back by one calendar year.