Iran's president sacks deputy over luxury cruise in Antarctica

Photo of Shahram Dabiri posing next to polar expedition ship sparked outrage in Tehran

Shahram Dabiri and his wife enjoyed a luxury cruise in Antarctica. X/The New Region

President Masoud Pezeshkian has sacked a senior Iranian official over an expensive holiday to Antarctica, Iran's news agency said on Saturday.

Shahram Dabiri, the president's deputy for parliamentary affairs, was seen in a photo posted on social media, alongside a woman identified as his wife, standing near the Plancius cruise ship, which caused outrage in Iran.

The Dutch-flagged vessel has offered luxury expeditions to Antarctica since 2009, with one agency pricing an eight-day trip at €3,885 ($4,528) a person. Iran is in a state of economic crisis and hyperinflation.

"In a context where economic pressure on the population remains high … expensive leisure trips by officials, even if paid out of their own pocket, are neither defensible nor justifiable,” the Iranian President wrote in a letter published on Saturday by the official IRNA news agency, which noted that Mr Dabiri was dismissed.

"In a decree on Saturday, President Masoud Pezeshkian said the leisure trip to Antarctica, while the Iranian people are grappling with intense economic pressures, contravenes the administration’s campaign pledge of sincerity and justice,” said the news agency.

Mr Dabiri, a 64-year-old physician by profession and a close confidant of Mr Pezeshkian, had been appointed to the post in August.

The government faced intense criticism after the photo was published, and several of Mr Pezeshkian's supporters urged him to remove the official.

IRNA late last month cited a source in Mr Dabiri's office as saying that he had made the trip before he held a government position.

The controversy is a blow for Mr Pezeshkian, who was elected last year on a promise to revive the economy and improve the daily lives of his fellow citizens.

In early March, his economy minister Abdolnasser Hemmati was dismissed by parliament amid a sharp depreciation of the national currency against the dollar and soaring inflation.

With reporting from agencies