The plane was totally destroyed and scattered in small pieces across the mountain

Crash witness

Four government officials were among those who perished on the Tupolev 154, which disappeared from radar screens while flying from Tehran to Khorramabad on Tuesday morning, an official told the Reuters news agency.

The aircraft was operated by Iran Air Tours, a subsidiary of the state carrier Iran Air.

Local witnesses said the plane crashed in flames into the Sefid-Kouh, or White Mountain, with a big explosion, as it was landing in the city about 375 kilometres (230 miles) south-west of the capital.

"The plane was totally destroyed and scattered in small pieces across the mountain," one villager said.

Relatives gather

Dozens of relatives of the passengers gathered at Tehran Mehrabad Airport.

"Where are you? What happened to you," shouted Nasrin Shafiiyan, beating her face and chest, as she waited tearfully for information about the fate of her husband Houshang, who was on the plane.

Four of the victims are reported to be Spaniards, who the Spanish foreign ministry says had travelled to Iran on a sales mission for an electrical goods company.

Search mission

A local official in Cheghini, 35km (21 miles) from Khorramabad, told the French news agency AFP that the wheels and other pieces of the plane had been located near the village of Sarab-Doreh, west of Khorramabad.

Previous Iranian crashes

July 2001 143 die on a Tu-154 near Irkutsk, Russia May 2001 30 die on a Russian-built Yak-40 in northern Iran March 1997 80 die when a military plane crashes in northeast Iran October 1994 66 die when an F-28 crashes near Natanz, south of Tehran February 1993 132 die when a Tu-154 crashes into a military plane near Tehran

He said mountaineers would be needed to recover the bodies from the area.

The Civil Aviation Organisation of Iran said over 100 rescue workers were at the scene.

"But given that the mountain is covered in snow it will be very difficult to reach the aircraft quickly," the organisation said.

The cause of the crash is not known, but President Mohammad Khatami has ordered an immediate inquiry.

It is the latest in a series of incidents involving ageing Russian-built aircraft leased by companies in Iran.

Members of parliament have already called for the resignation or impeachment of the transport minister, whose predecessor died in another air crash in May last year.

Sanctions blamed

The BBC Tehran correspondent says the weather in the region is currently not too bad, which he says will raise questions about why the crash happened.

At the airport, Mrs Shafiiyan blamed the crash on "stupid incompetent officials" who collect second-hand planes from former Soviet Union.

"What is this garbage they buy or rent?", she asked.

Under US sanctions, Iran has had difficulty obtaining spare parts for its ageing fleet of Boeing aircraft purchased before the 1979 Islamic revolution and relies increasingly on planes leased from the former Soviet Union.

Iran has said the US stance on spare parts endangers the lives of innocent passengers.