FNA- Tehran and France's giant aviation company, Airbus, will start cooperation to produce spare parts for airplanes in the near future, a senior Iranian official announced on Monday.

"Negotiations have been held with Airbus aircraft company to build spare parts in cooperation with Iran," Secretary of the Headquarters to Develop Knowledge-Based Air and Aviation Industries affiliated to the Presidential Office for Science and Technology Manouchehr Manteqi said on Monday.

"Cooperation between the aviation industries (of Iran) and Airbus to produce spare parts will start soon," he added.

Iran has also signed a contract with Airbus to purchase passenger planes.

A senior Iranian aviation official announced last month that the giant aviation company, Airbus, will deliver the first passenger airplane to Iran by the end of 2016.

"The first of 17 airplanes that the US Treasury Department has allowed to be sold to Iran will be handed over to us in the coming two months," Managing Director of Aviation Parts Holding Company of Iran Javad Hashemi Tehrani said.

He noted that an A321 Airbus will be delivered to Iran Air, Iran's national flag-carrier airline, and said, "Airbus A321 is a narrow-body, mid-range jet".

In November, the US Treasury Department authorized Airbus to sell 106 commercial planes to Iran's national flag carrier, Iran Air.

The US Office of Foreign Assets Control, an arm of the Treasury Department, granted the license to Airbus to deliver passenger jets to Iran worth more than $20 billion.

Airbus is based in France but it must have the US authorization to export planes to Iran because at least 10 percent of the aircraft�s parts are made in the United States.