The Syria-bound flight was also carrying a number of Iranian lawmakers, Iran's state radio reported Saturday.

Security guards on the Tehran-Damascus flight thwarted the attempt and arrested the suspect, the report said. No one was hurt.

The radio report said an unspecified number of Iranian lawmakers were on the plane en route to a parliamentary conference in Damascus. It did not provide further details.

"A man, linked to anti-revolutionary groups, tried to create an atmosphere of fear and intimidation on board the flight ... to hijack the plane," Abbas Mosayebi from Iran Air, the national carrier, told the ISNA student news agency.

Earlier, an official from Iran Air, told the semi-official Fars news agency that the man suffered from a "mental problem."

The Airbus plane, which had taken off from Tehran, later landed safely in Damascus, ISNA said, adding that "the suspect was arrested by the security forces on board."

"The plane later landed safely in (the Syrian capital) Damascus... The plane is flying back to Tehran," it reported. It said no explosives were found on board.

The semi-official Fars news agency said the incident happened minutes before the Iran Air flight landed in the Syrian capital.

Fars quoted Iran Air spokesman Shahrokh Nushabadi as saying the suspect said he was intending to hijack the Airbus plane but that security guards arrested the unarmed man.

Nushabadi said the incident took place on Friday aboard Iran Air flight 517 which was bound for the Syrian capital Damascus.

"As the plane was approaching Damascus, one of the passengers falsely claimed he had a bomb and that the plane should land in another country," Nushabadi told Mehr news agency.

"The air marshals immediately arrested the offender who was unarmed," he told Fars, describing the hijacker as "mentally unstable."

"The air marshals talked to him, calmed him down and the plane safely landed in Damascus airport," he said.

Nushabadi said that the man was handed over to authorities at Damascus airport.

Earlier Fars carried a report saying the incident happened Saturday morning. "I have planted a bomb on the plane and want to take control of it," the agency quoted the hijacker as saying.

The would-be hijacker "was armed with a weapon, which wasn't a firearm," Fars said in its previous report, adding that a preliminary investigation showed there was no bomb on the aircraft.

Iran's flagship carrier Iran Air has frequent weekly flights to the Syrian capital.

"The case is being investigated by the Intelligence Ministry and the Revolutionary Guards," Mosayebi said.