Previous reports had put the death toll at 70, but the number had been expected to rise.

The Iran Air Boeing 727 with 106 on board crashed while attempting to land in bad weather in the city of Urumiyeh, located in a mountainous area near the border with Turkey, about 1,000 km (625 miles) northwest of the capital Tehran.

"Unfortunately, we lost 77 of our citizens and 27 others were injured," local official Nosrat Mollazadeh was quoted as saying by the state news agency IRNA.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered an accelerated investigation while IRNA reported the plane's black box flight recorder had been found.

"The government has announced three days of mourning in the province," IRNA said.

Reuters