Iran’s president has fired his deputy for taking a holiday to Antarctica.

Shahram Dabiri, the country’s now former vice-president, travelled first to Argentina, and then onto the Plancius cruise ship to Antarctica, in an extravagant trip deemed to be “indefensible” while Iran is facing financial difficulties.

A photo shared on Instagram by a woman believed to be his wife shows the pair near the Dutch-flagged vessel, which offers Antarctic expeditions priced at around £3,300 per person for an eight-day journey.

Other pictures of Dr Dabiri and the woman touring Buenos Aires, Paris, Rome, and Tbilisi were also shared on the same account, which has since been made private.

“In recent days, after reviewing the news, it was confirmed that during Nowruz, you were on a leisure trip to Antarctica,” Masoud Pezeshkian, the Iranian president, wrote in a letter to Dr Dabiri, subsequently published by the official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).

He added: “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… we can no longer continue our cooperation with you in the government.”

Dr Dabiri, 64, a physician and close ally of Mr Pezeshkian, had been appointed in August and was reportedly out of the country when he was dismissed.

His appointment had sparked controversy in Iran, as he had previously been arrested and imprisoned on corruption charges during his tenure as head of a local council in northwestern Tabriz.

Following his election last year, Mr Pezeshkian disclosed his monthly salary as 700 million rials (around £600). 

With his deputies earning less than £7,000 annually, questions have been raised about how Dr Dabiri could afford such an expensive trip.