Iran president fires deputy over pricey Antarctica trip

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Saturday dismissed his deputy for parliamentary affairs over a costly trip to Antarctica, as the country grapples with hyperinflation amid a biting economic crisis.

A photo shared on social media in recent days showed the now former vice-president, Shahram Dabiri, alongside a woman identified as his wife, posing near the Plancius cruise ship.

The Dutch-flagged vessel has offered luxury expeditions to Antarctica since 2009, with one agency pricing an eight-day trip at 3,885 euros per person.

"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 Saturday by the official IRNA news agency, which noted that Dabiri was dismissed.

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

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

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

The controversy is another major blow for 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.