Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has expressed his regret over the plane crash. Ahmadinejad's office said in a statement that "the passenger plane crash and the death of many of our dear citizens have caused a lot of grief and sorrow."

According to the report, the Iranian president instructed his transportation minister to launch an immediate investigation into the crash and report to him and to the Iranian people about its findings.

The plane was traveling from Tehran to Yerevan in Armenia when it came down at 11:33 am (0703 GMT) near the city of Qazvin, the official IRNA news agency said.

The plane crashed 16 minutes after take-off from the capital's Imam Khomeini International airport, it said.