Iran's national flag carrier Iran Air is set to receive five new ATR planes amid looming US sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

A top US official has made clear that the US government is unlikely to issue any licenses that would allow companies like Airbus and ATR to continue supporting aircraft in service with Iranian airlines.

ATR says it has applied for an export license from the US Treasury Department to deliver 12 aircraft to Iran under a deal signed in 2017, an aviation news website reports.

ATR Chief Executive Officer Christian Scherer says the Franco-Italian planemaker will not take any risk of falling out with US authorities.

Tehran has ordered more than 200 planes since US-led sanctions against the country were lifted in 2016 under a nuclear agreement.

Seven search teams are dispatched to the site of a passenger plane crash on a mountaintop in southwestern Iran to recover the remaining bodies buried under heavy snow.

The Iranian football federation files a complaint to the AFC against Al-Hilal’s snub to respect a minute’s silence for the victims of a recent plane crash in Iran.