Iranian media reported that the plane, a Falcon, came down near Orumiyeh, near the Turkish border and 900 kilometres north-west of the capital Tehran.
Local Fars news agency said Ahmad Kazemi, the commander of the ground forces of the Revolutionary Guards, and seven senior officers were among those killed.
"Ahmad Kazemi was killed with 12 of his deputies and accompanying officers," said Ahmad Panahi of Iran's Emergency Centre, according to Fars news agency.
The crash comes barely a month after a decrepit Iranian military transport plane crashed into the foot of a high-rise housing block after suffering engine failure, killing up to 128 people.
Media reports say the latest crash was caused by bad weather in the country's snowbound north-west.