Tehran, Jan 9 (TIWN) A plane that crashed in Iran with 179 people on board just after take-off was trying to the return to the airport when it crashed, Iranian investigators have said.

A Kiev-bound Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-800 went down on Wednesday just minutes after taking off from Tehran''s airport, leaving no survivors.

An initial probe found the aircraft experienced a problem as it was leaving the airport zone, and was "on fire", the BBC reported on Thursday.

Earlier, Iran said it would not hand over the recovered black box flight recorders to Boeing or to the US.

Under global aviation rules, Iran has the right to lead the investigation, but manufacturers are typically involved.

The crash came at a time of high tensions between Iran and the US -- just hours after Iran carried out missile strikes on two air bases housing US forces in Iraq. However, there is no evidence the two events are linked.

Iran''s Civil Aviation Organisation (CAOI) chief Ali Abedzadeh said: "The plane, which was initially headed west to leave the airport zone, turned right following a problem and was headed back to the airport at the moment of the crash."