Passenger plane with 66 on board crashes in Iran

The ATR-made plane operated by Iranian carrier Aseman Airlines crashed in a mountainous area near the town of Semirom, news agency ISNA quoted emergency services spokesman Mojtaba Khaledi as saying.

Semirom's governor said rescue helicopters were unable to land in the crash site because of heavy fog and emergency workers were trying to reach the area by land, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

State-run PressTV said 66 people were on board the plane, which disappeared from radar screens 50 minutes after taking off from Tehran's Mehrabad airport.

Mehrabad is located in western Tehran and mainly functions as a domestic airport, although it also serves some international routes.

Iran has suffered several plane crashes in the past few decades. Tehran says U.S. sanctions have long prevented it from buying new aircraft or spare parts from the West.