Two others were also injured in the crash at Mehrabad airport, and have been taken to hospital, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported, without giving their condition.

The plane, a Russian-designed Antonov-74, suffered a "technical failure in its engine" causing it to crash, General Yahya Rahim Safavi, the commander of the Guards, said. It is the third time an Iranian military aircraft has crashed in the last 12 months.

Television footage showed the burnt remains of the plane scattered along the runway. A charred fuselage could be seen among the debris and the tail, painted in military colours, was one of the few parts still recognisable.

A statement from the Revolutionary Guards, a separate organisation from the Islamic Republic's regular armed forces, quoted on state-run television, said that 30 guards and six crew members were killed.

The plane was bound for Shiraz, about 1,000 kilometres to the south of Tehran, when it crashed at the airport, which is used for civilian and military flights.

Details of whether the plane had left the runway before it crashed are still sketchy and an investigation team are examining the plane's black-box flight recorder for more information.

State-run television said the plane crashed shortly after take off but Eskandar Momeni, a police officer, was reported by the ISNA news agency as saying that an engine failed due to "technical problems" when it was on the runway, causing it to veer, hit an obstacle and explode.

Air safety experts say Iran has a poor record, with a string of crashes in the past few decades. The Iran government has blamed these accidents on US sanctions which have prevented the country from buying new aircraft or spares from the West. This has forced it to supplement its ageing fleet of Boeing and Airbus planes with aircraft from the former Soviet Union.

In January, a small military passenger Falcon jet crashed in north western Iran, killing at least 11 people and another military plane hit a 10-storey tower block in Tehran killing 94 people on board and at least 22 on the ground.

The last civilian aviation disaster was in September, when an Iranian airliner caught fire after landing in the north eastern city of Mashhad, killing 28 people.

Times Recommends

• LA profits from Michael Jackson stimulus
• Berlusconi's absent wife causes G8 headache
• Chimps that took a punishing step for Man