TEHRAN: A military aircraft taking part in an army parade crashed near Tehran on Tuesday, state television said, as the Fars news agency reported seven people killed in a plane crash in the same area.

The television gave no further details of the incident.

Earlier the official IRNA news agency said a plane "which was conducting manoeuvres during the parade crashed in the village of Vali Abad," near Tehran.

Fars quoted the Iran Red Crescent relief chief Ahmad Esfandiari as saying that relief workers had found the bodies of seven passengers from a plane which crashed in an area called Qarchak, south of Tehran.

The report said the crash took place at around 10:00 am (0630 GMT) in Qarchak, an area close to where an army parade was taking place.

Fars, however, quoted a statement by the Iranian air force as saying the plane that crashed was not part of the parade but was a training aircraft.