At least 80 passengers were killed as an Iranian airliner caught fire on Friday while landing in the northeastern city of Mashhad, Iran's state television reported.

There were 147 passengers on board the plane, which had been on a flight from the southern port city of Bandar Abbas to Mashhad, about 1,000 km northeast of Tehran, the TV said.

A tyre of the Russian-made Tupolev burst and started the fire when the plane was landing, according to the television.

None of the Iran Airtour plane's crew members died in the fire and other passengers were evacuated, the television reported.

The fire had been kept under control and investigators had rushed to the scene, it added.