Iranian passenger plane crashes in NW Iran

TEHRAN, (Reuters) – An Iranian passenger jet with at  least 105 people on board crashed in bad weather today near  the northwestern city of Urumiyeh, Iranian media said.
At least 50 people were rescued from the crash, the  semi-official Fars news agency quoted an official as saying.
Fars said there were 105 people on board, but state TV put  the number at 156.
Iran has suffered a string of crashes in the past few  decades. U.S. sanctions against Iran have prevented it from  buying new aircraft or spare parts from the West.
The last major air crash in Iran was in July 2009 when a  Caspian Airlines Tupolev aircraft bound for Armenia caught fire  in mid-air and crashed into farmland near the city of Qazvin,  killing all 168 people on board.
One of the country’s worst air accidents happened in  February 2003 when an Iranian Ilyushin-76 troop carrier crashed  in southeast Iran, killing all 276 Revolutionary Guard soldiers  and crew aboard.