In his message to President Dmitry Medvedev, President Ahmadinejad has in his message expressed his deep sorrow, condoling and expressing sympathy also with the bereaved families of the crash victims and the Russian nation, praying for the recovery of the wounded, patience for the victims’ family members, and the salvation of the souls of the bygone.



An Aeroflot jet which crashed Sunday near Perm in Russia's Ural Mountains, killing all 88 people on board was an accident, Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin said.



Aeroflot said controllers lost radio contact with the plane around 5:20 a.m. Saturday. Moments later it plunged to Earth, narrowly missing a densely-populated residential area on the outskirts of Perm.

The airline confirmed there were no survivors and said the dead included nine people from Azerbaijan, five from Ukraine and one each from France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Switzerland, US, and Turkey. Six of the dead were crew.

President Dmitry Medvedev offered his condolences to the grieving families and Russia's Transport Minister Igor Levitin was dispatched to Perm to personally head the probe into what happened.