A Ukrainian airliner with at least 170 people on board crashed on Wednesday due to technical problems soon after taking off from Tehran's Imam Khomeini airport, Iran's official news agency IRNA reported.

Rescue teams have been sent to an area near the airport where the Boeing 737 belonging to Ukraine International Airlines crashed, Reza Jafarzadeh, a spokesman for Iran's Civil Aviation Organization, told state television.

"The plane is on fire but we have sent crews ... and we may be able to save some passengers." Pirhossein Koulivand, head of Iran's emergency services, told the television.

Jafarzadeh put the number of passengers at 170.

IRNA said according to preliminary information "the plane was bound for Kiev ... and had 180 passengers and crew."