A plane crash in Tehran early Monday killed 38 people, most of them members and high-ranking officers of the elite Revolutionary Guards, Iranian state television reports.

The Russian-designed Antonov-74 crashed shortly after taking off from a Tehran airport for Shiraz, about 970 kilometres to the south, state television said.

A man examines the wreckage of the Russian-designed Antonov-74. It was the third military air plane crash in Iran in the past year.A man examines the wreckage of the Russian-designed Antonov-74. It was the third military air plane crash in Iran in the past year.
(ISNA/Associated Press)

"Some 30 members of the elite Revolutionary guards and six crew members were killed in the crash while they were heading for a military site," state-run television said, reading a statement from the Guards.

Two people were injured, it said.

State television did not give any details on the names or ranks of the victims of the crash.

The Revolutionary Guards are an elite group in Iran, widely believed to be strongly influential under the leadership of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

It was the third military air plane crash in the past year.

The cause of the crash wasn't immediately clear. However, a police officer blamed it on technical problems.