BREAKING: Rescuers Find Wreckage Of Iranian Airliner

Wreckage of Iranian airliner that crashed in Zagros mountains on Sunday has been found by rescuers, state media report.

The Aseman Airlines flight from Tehran disappeared from radar screens on Sunday 50 minutes into its journey to the southwestern city of Yasuj.

The plane with 65 people on board was said to have gone down in a mountainous area near the town of Semirom.

Helicopters and mountain rescue personnel from the armed forces and the Red Crescent, as well as local volunteers, have been searching for the wreckage since Sunday.

But glacial temperatures and mountainous terrain hampered their search.

“Five units started the search operation in early hours of the morning, in -16 degrees (Celsius, 3.2 degrees Fahrenheit),” a local Red Crescent official was quoted as saying by IRNA news agency.

The twin-engined turboprop ATR 72 was just over 24 years old.

According to data cited by the Flight Safety Foundation’s aviation-safety.net website, it had been restored to service just three months ago after being in storage for six years.

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has expressed “deep sympathy” for relatives of those on board, saying the accident “saddened the hearts”.