An Iranian military aircraft crashed shortly after take-off from a Tehran airport today, state-run television reported.
It said 36 people on board died and that two survived the crash of the Russian-designed Antonov-74 and were being treated in hospital.
The plane was being used by the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological wing of the Islamic Republic's military.
Iran's Mehr News Agency said the plane was headed for Shiraz, a city south of Tehran, when it crashed after taking off from Mehrabad airport, which is used for civilian and military flights.
Air safety experts say Iran has a poor record with a string of crashes in the past few decades, many involving Russian-made aircraft.
US sanctions against Iran have prevented it from buying new aircraft or spares from the West, forcing it to supplement its ageing fleet of Boeing and Airbus planes with aircraft from the former Soviet Union.