A private Turkish plane travelling from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates to Istanbul with 11 people on board crashed in southwestern Iran on Sunday, a spokesman for Iran's Civil Aviation Organization said.

"We can confirm that a Turkish private jet ... while passing through our airspace disappeared from the radar and crashed near Shahr-e Kord," Reza Jafarzadeh told state television.

Iran's ISNA news agency quoted Jafarzadeh as saying 11 people were believed to be on board, but there was no word on their fate.

An emergency services spokesman was quoted by ISNA as saying the plane was on fire.

Emergency crews were attempting to reach the crash site but the terrain was mountainous, making their approach difficult, the spokesman said.