All 176 crew members and passengers, 147 of whom were Iranians, were killed in the incident, which came a few minutes after take-off from Imam Khomeini Airport in Tehran en route to Kiev on Wednesday.

Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Seyyed Abbas Salehi apologized to the families of the victims and expressed his condolences.

“The families’ grief deepened upon hearing the account of the event by the commander of the Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC),” Salehi wrote on his Twitter on Saturday.

“The information was good but not complete. For regaining trust, a transparent conversation between the IRGC commanders and the media is required,” he added. 

The Iranian House of Cinema, which is the official guild of Iranian cineastes, also sent a message of condolences to the families of the victims. 

“The Iranian House of Cinema is grieved over the death of the dear passengers who lost their lives in the event and deeply wishes forbearance for their families,” the organization wrote in the statement published on Saturday.

“We need sympathy and solidarity more than at any other time these days, which are overshadowed by the fear of disastrous incidents,” the statement added.

In a statement published on Sunday, the Association of Iranian Documentary Filmmakers also expressed their sympathy over the death of the passengers.

“Over these gloomy days, the documentarians say that they are always alongside the people, and this is the venerable tradition of the association to reflect the pain of the Iranian land,” they wrote.

The Documentary and Experimental Film Center, the Theater Forum and dozens of other Iranian cultural institutions also offered their condolences over the loss of the passengers.  

In addition, a number of artists and cineastes, including Aidin Aghdahslu, Parviz Parastui, Mahaya Petrosian, Shabnam Moqaddami, Niki Karimi, Ali Rafiei, Mohammad-Hossein Mahdavian and Tahmineh Milani, expressed their sympathy over the event in posts published on the social networks.

Source:Tehran Times