Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian went to Antarctica with his wife during the Persian New Year Nowruz, firing one of his representatives.
The presidential office faces ongoing economic challenges in Iran, describing Shahram Dabiri’s journey as “unreasonable and unacceptable”.
Photos of Dabiri and his wife posing in front of MV Plancius, bound to the Antarctic, circulated widely on social media and sparked anger in Iran.
Pezeshkian said in a statement Saturday that Dabari was removed from his “irrefutable” action, whether they raised funds from his own pocket or not.
“In a government that tries to follow the values of the First Shia Imam (Imam Ali), even personal-funded luxury travel cannot be defended under the enormous economic pressure on our people,” Pezschian said.
Iran’s economy is under tremendous pressure and is subject to Western sanctions, partly due to support for groups including Hamas and Hezbollah, which have been banned by the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Iran has an unemployment rate of 8.4%, while its annual inflation rate is 29.5%.
Pezshkian said Dabiri’s actions “contradicted the simplest principles that commanded those most important.”
The starting cost of the Antarctic expedition on MV Plancius is reportedly equivalent to US$6,685 (£5,187).
Usually, visits to the world’s lowest-popular and least-popular continent are conducted by scientists and experienced explorers.
However, in recent years, cruising tourism voyages have quickly gained popularity. For example, the Dutch ships shown in the Dabiri picture used the Royal Dutch Navy to conduct military and civilian research between 1976 and 2004.
It is unclear which adventure package Dabiri chose or the mode of transportation he took from Iran to Antarctica.
Among the many packages available online, explorers need to set off and disembark from Ushaia, the southernmost tip of Argentina. The town is about 3,079 km (1,913 miles) from Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina.
The Iranian president was elected last year, pledging to restore the economy and improve the daily lives of Iranians. He replaced Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash.
Iranian media reported that with the public’s dissatisfaction on the trip, many supporters of Pezshkian urged him to evacuate Dabiri from the postal.
