The semi-official Mehr news agency reported this evening that the plane was en route from Tehran to Istanbul but returned because of a technical problem. It landed safely at Mehrabad airport without any injuries to passengers or crew, Mehr reported, citing an official at the Imam Khomeini airport, the departure point of the airplane. The report did not provide any additional details about the technical problem encountered by the airplane, which belonged to the Iran Airtour company.
A picture of the airplane posted on social media did not appear to show any damage.
It comes as Iran’s Revolutionary Guards accidentally shot down a Ukrainian airliner near Tehran on January 8 killing all 176 aboard.
Iran has refused to hand over the black box, that contains the flight data of the plane.
The flight crashed at 6.20am, killing everyone on board.
The tragedy happened just hours after Tehran launched over a dozen missiles at two US bases in Iraq, prompting some commentators to claim the plan had been shot down by Iranian air defences.
But the exact cause of the crash is yet to be determined and Iran has vowed to shut out American authorities from the investigation.
Speaking to Iran’s Mehr news agency, the head of Iran’s Civil Aviation Authority, Ali Abedzadeh said the black boxes would be analysed in the country where the accident took place, in accordance with International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) rules.
He added that Ukrainian investigators would be part of the process and ruled out involving the US at this stage.
READ NOW: Iran crisis: US warns of ‘very real threat’ [NEWS]
This is because the plane went down just hours after Tehran launched a missile attack on a US military base in Iraq.
It is feared the plane may have been shot down by nervous Iranian defences in the aftermath of the missile attacks.
One aviation expert, from the OPS group, said a shoot down seems the most likely explanation.
They said: “We would recommend the starting assumption to be that this was a shootdown event, similar to MH17 – until there is clear evidence to the contrary.”
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, warned against “speculation or unchecked theories regarding the catastrophe” until official reports were ready.
Three Britons are confirmed to be among the dead, according to authorities in Kyiv.