Official said the four-engined transport went down at around 1:10 pmin a river near Robat-Karim, around 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of the capital and close to Iran's future Imam Khomeini international airport.

"The plane had seven crew members and passengers on board. All were killed," General Mahmoud Chaploghi was quoted as saying by the official news agency IRNA.

The crash occurred as President Mohammad Khatami was on a tour of Robat-Karim and nearby Shahriar, but officials were quick to say there was no connection between Khatami's visit there and the crash, adding that no government officials were on board the plane.

State radio said the crash was caused by technical problems, but gave no further details.

Iran's air force is believed to have no more than around 15 of the US-built C-130's in operation, having acquired the planes before the 1979 Islamic revolution. Since then, Iran has been subject to tough US sanctions, hindering the purchase of critical spare parts for all US-made planes in its air force and the civilian flag carrier Iran Air.

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