At least 16 people have drowned in torrential rains and floods lashing western and southern parts of Iran, the official IRNA news agency reported on Wednesday.

The flooding, which began late Tuesday, destroyed or damaged several villages in Chahar-Mahal Bakhtiari province in west of the country where 13 people were killed, it said.

Another three people were killed and another three wounded in a violent storm in the southwestern city of Ahvaz in Khuzestan province.

Electrical installations were damaged by winds packing more than 100 kilometres (60 miles) an hour and several homes were left without power.