Iran minister missing in plane

An aircraft carrying the Iranian transport minister, Rahman Dadman, several members of parliament and other passengers is reported to have vanished from radar screens.

The official Iranian news agency Irna says the plane disappeared in bad weather shortly before it was due to land in the northern city of Sari.

Rescue teams are searching for the aircraft, a Russian-made Yak-40 belonging to Faraz-e Qeshm airlines, which is thought to have had 19 people on board.

Irna says the pilot told air traffic controllers that he might return to Tehran or make an emergency landing before losing contact.

The search is being carried out in planes, helicopters and boats, with the possibility that the aircraft may have crashed in the Caspian Sea.

Mr Dadman was appointed to the cabinet in January in a reshuffle by Iran's reformist President Mohammad Khatami.