Boeing announced a $16.6 billion deal on Sunday to sell planes to Iran, which for decades had been economically blacklisted by the United States. The company instead chose to emphasize how many jobs the sale would support.

“Today’s agreement will support tens of thousands of U.S. jobs” associated with the production and delivery of the planes, Boeing said in its news release.

The intended recipient of Boeing’s message clearly seemed to be President-elect Donald J. Trump.

Its carefully worded statement is emblematic of the tightrope that America’s biggest exporters are walking amid his threats to shake up trade policy and undo the Obama administration’s nuclear accord with Iran. That agreement lifted the American sanctions on Iran, making Boeing’s jet deal possible...

Boeing said its agreement with Iran called for 80 planes to be delivered, starting in 2018. They include 50 of a new version of its single-aisle 737 jet, 15 of its larger 777s and 15 of a new 777X that should be ready for service by 2020.

House Republicans have sought to block the sales, and Mr. Trump has said Iran would not have been able to negotiate with Boeing if it had not been for the “disastrous Iran nuclear deal,” which put limits on Iran’s nuclear programs. But in a tweet that gives Boeing hope, he also expressed concern last January that Iran might buy its jets from Airbus instead of Boeing.

Iran said on Sunday that it was close to signing a deal to buy 118 planes from Airbus as the nation seeks to play the two companies against each other.

Another big hurdle for Boeing would be how to finance its sales to Iran. Conservatives in Congress have been trying to kill the Export-Import Bank of the United States, which has long provided subsidized credit to promote American exports. Mr. Trump has said he does not think the bank is needed, but he added that he had not made a final decision.