TEHRAN: Iran’s purchase of 118 Airbus passenger aircraft is in its final stages and the deal could be completed as soon as next week, the French transport minister said on Monday in Tehran. Alain Vidalies told reporters that the contract, initially valued at $25 billion, is subject to approval from the US government’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and talks are planned next week. The deal would be by far the biggest commercial contract signed since Iran and world powers implemented an agreement on Tehran’s nuclear programme that saw crippling sanctions lifted in January. OFAC must approve the deal, which Iranian officials say is worth nearer $10 billion, because more than 10 per cent of components in the Airbus planes are of American origin, Vidalies said at a press conference with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Akhoundi.