LONDON, United Kingdom - Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian has sacked his deputy for parliamentary affairs amid a wave of outrage against a recent personal trip he made to Antarctica.

 

"At a time of economic strains affecting the public, and as the deprived are countless… expensive recreational trips by endorsed officials—even if self-funded—are unjustifiable," Pezeshkian wrote in the dismissal decree published by his official website on Saturday.

 

The decision was made days after images made the rounds on social media showing the VP, Shahram Dabiri, standing close to a cruise ship apparently anchored at the South Pole. 

 

Critics — ranging from ordinary users to lawmakers and government officials—fiercely criticized Dabiri for making the trip while many of his fellow Iranians were struggling to make ends meet due to the country's multiple economic crises battered by international sanctions and domestic corruption.

 

In his decree, the Iranian president noted that Dabiri's trip was "inconsistent with principles of a simple lifestyle" that he has been promoting among administration officials. Pezeshkian also highlighted that his personal friendship with Dabiri could not make him turn a blind eye to the trip.

 

Amid the growing backlash, Dabiri initially denied the visit. As evidence mounted, however, he defied the pressure, saying the recreational trip's costs were paid from his own pocket.

 

"Travel is a personal issue, but certain people seek to weaponize it to destroy me," he wrote in a note published by Iranian media.

 

The reaction only further fuelled the public rage, with many reminding Pezeshkian of his election campaign promises to fight corruption and his propagation of modesty in his entourage. 

 

'Belated but praiseworthy'

 

The dismissal drew widespreal approval from across Iran's political spectrum. Pezeshkian's supporters and a number of his critics hailing from the conservative camp welcomed the decision. They praised the president for "not sweating" in making the hard choice and putting values before the decades-long friendship with the official.

 

His more hardcore opponents, nonetheless, underscored the delay in the decision, suggesting that in the absence of public pressure, the president would have looked the other way.

 

Hossein Shariatmadari, the editor of the ultraconservative Kayhan daily—which is affiliated with the Iranian supreme leader's office— called on Pezeshkian to sack not just officials who conduct a lavish lifestyle and make "luxury" trips, but also those "who side with Iran's enemies."

 

Along similar lines, conservative pundit Ali Gholhaki wrote on X that it took Pezeshkian ten days to fire the VP and only after the latter's lie about the trip had already been exposed. Such a delay, he noted, "diminished the value of an otherwise commendable decision."

 

In a public letter after his dismissal, Dabiri acknowledged Pezeshkian's decision and expressed respect for public opinion, yet once again stood his ground by reiterating that he had committed no wrongdoing.