Iranian VP fired over Antarctic vacation

Iran’s President dismissed his deputy for parliamentary affairs on Saturday after images surfaced online showing the official on vacation in Argentina and en route to Antarctica during the Iranian new year holidays.

In a letter published by government-affiliated media outlets, President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote that the Antarctic vacation, “even if paid for personally,” could not be justified while “economic pressures remain severe and many in our country live in deprivation.”

Shahram Dabiri Oskuei has not commented publicly but shortly after the photos began circulating on March 25, the state-run IRNA news agency cited a member of his office denying the trip took place this year.

“The photo being shared is from past years,” the unnamed official said.

The controversy erupted after multiple images were posted on social media appearing to show Dabiri alongside a woman near a cruise ship and other landmarks in Buenos Aires.

Pezeshkian wrote that an internal review confirmed Dabiri had been on a recreational tour over the holiday.

However, the trip to Antarctica is not the VP's first controversial episode. In 2020, he was arrested on financial charges though in the end, the charges were dropped.

The holiday comes while one third of Iran is living below the poverty line in the worst economic crisis since the founding of the Islamic Republic, the average monthly income in Iran now as low as $200 for a family of four.