Latest news with #Dabiri
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
An Iranian official was fired over his 'lavish' Argentina trip. Argentines are angry, too
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Furious that an Iranian official had entered Argentina as an ordinary citizen on a tourist visa, Argentine lawmakers this week attacked the nation's spy agency. They asked the government to investigate the Iranian deputy's vacation in Argentina, a country where several other Iranian politicians still stand accused of carrying out deadly bombings in Buenos Aires in the 1990s. Tehran denies the accusations. 'The intelligence agency allowed a vice-president of Iran to enter our country, it's terrible,' Florencia Carignano, a lawmaker from hardline opposition Peronist bloc, Unión por la Patria, told fellow legislators Tuesday on the foreign relations committee. 'I am seriously worried.' She paused for a beat, then exclaimed, 'Iran!' The heated discussion in Argentina's Congress marks the latest fallout from the luxury vacation that Shahram Dabiri and his wife took earlier this year. Dabiri had served as vice president of parliamentary affairs in Iran before being fired last week over the trip in Argentina, which Iran's president criticized as 'lavish' and 'indefensible." Although Dabiri reportedly paid for the trip with his own money, several Instagram photos that showed him and his wife boarding an expensive cruise from southern Argentina to Antarctica and posing in what appears to be an opulent cathedral angered Iranians struggling to scrape by in the sanctions-hit economy. Argentines were also angered by Dabiri's trip, for a different reason. The South American country remains deeply traumatized by the bombing attacks against the Israeli Embassy and a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires in 1992 and 1994 respectively, which killed over 100 people. Despite probes marred by corruption and delays over the past three decades, Argentine prosecutors have long maintained that Iranian operatives and senior officials played key roles in the attacks. Argentina believes that Iran is shielding in the high echelons of its political establishment various people accused of having authorized the attack, including former Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi. Any incident involving Iranians in Argentina can quickly snowball into a crisis. Last year, for instance, Argentina grounded a Venezuelan-owned cargo jet and detained its Iranian crew members for an investigation into possible terrorism ties before releasing them for lack of evidence. Carignano, the left-leaning lawmaker on the parliamentary foreign affairs committee who previously served as an immigration minister, announced that she'd learned that Dabiri had not properly declared himself as a government official in his visa application. She said that he had applied for a tourist visa, identifying himself only as a doctor. There was no immediate response from Argentina's foreign ministry. The Iranian Embassy in Buenos Aires did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Iran's Tabriz University of Medical Sciences describes Dabiri as a physician and professor of nuclear medicine on its website. Two other lawmakers on Tuesday backed Carignano's order for a government inquiry into Dabiri's roughly two-week vacation. They asked how he'd managed to travel on a tourist visa and why the country's intelligence agency reportedly had not alerted immigration authorities to his entry. 'What happened? That's what we want to know," Carignano wrote on social media Wednesday.
Washington Post
09-04-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
An Iranian official was fired over his 'lavish' Argentina trip. Argentines are angry, too
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Furious that an Iranian official had entered Argentina as an ordinary citizen on a tourist visa, Argentine lawmakers this week attacked the nation's spy agency. They asked the government to investigate the Iranian deputy's vacation in Argentina, a country where several other Iranian politicians still stand accused of carrying out deadly bombings in Buenos Aires in the 1990s. Tehran denies the accusations. 'The intelligence agency allowed a vice-president of Iran to enter our country, it's terrible,' Florencia Carignano, a lawmaker from hardline opposition Peronist bloc, Unión por la Patria, told fellow legislators Tuesday on the foreign relations committee. 'I am seriously worried.' She paused for a beat, then exclaimed, 'Iran!' The heated discussion in Argentina's Congress marks the latest fallout from the luxury vacation that Shahram Dabiri and his wife took earlier this year. Dabiri had served as vice president of parliamentary affairs in Iran before being fired last week over the trip in Argentina, which Iran's president criticized as 'lavish' and 'indefensible.' Although Dabiri reportedly paid for the trip with his own money, several Instagram photos that showed him and his wife boarding an expensive cruise from southern Argentina to Antarctica and posing in what appears to be an opulent cathedral angered Iranians struggling to scrape by in the sanctions-hit economy. Argentines were also angered by Dabiri's trip, for a different reason. The South American country remains deeply traumatized by the bombing attacks against the Israeli Embassy and a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires in 1992 and 1994 respectively, which killed over 100 people. Despite probes marred by corruption and delays over the past three decades , Argentine prosecutors have long maintained that Iranian operatives and senior officials played key roles in the attacks . Argentina believes that Iran is shielding in the high echelons of its political establishment various people accused of having authorized the attack, including former Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi. Any incident involving Iranians in Argentina can quickly snowball into a crisis. Last year, for instance, Argentina grounded a Venezuelan-owned cargo jet and detained its Iranian crew members for an investigation into possible terrorism ties before releasing them for lack of evidence. Carignano, the left-leaning lawmaker on the parliamentary foreign affairs committee who previously served as an immigration minister, announced that she'd learned that Dabiri had not properly declared himself as a government official in his visa application. She said that he had applied for a tourist visa, identifying himself only as a doctor. There was no immediate response from Argentina's foreign ministry. The Iranian Embassy in Buenos Aires did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Iran's Tabriz University of Medical Sciences describes Dabiri as a physician and professor of nuclear medicine on its website. Two other lawmakers on Tuesday backed Carignano's order for a government inquiry into Dabiri's roughly two-week vacation. They asked how he'd managed to travel on a tourist visa and why the country's intelligence agency reportedly had not alerted immigration authorities to his entry. 'What happened? That's what we want to know,' Carignano wrote on social media Wednesday.
Associated Press
09-04-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
An Iranian official was fired over his ‘lavish' Argentina trip. Argentines are angry, too
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Furious that an Iranian official had entered Argentina as an ordinary citizen on a tourist visa, Argentine lawmakers this week attacked the nation's spy agency. They asked the government to investigate the Iranian deputy's vacation in Argentina, a country where several other Iranian politicians still stand accused of carrying out deadly bombings in Buenos Aires in the 1990s. Tehran denies the accusations. 'The intelligence agency allowed a vice-president of Iran to enter our country, it's terrible,' Florencia Carignano, a lawmaker from hardline opposition Peronist bloc, Unión por la Patria, told fellow legislators Tuesday on the foreign relations committee. 'I am seriously worried.' She paused for a beat, then exclaimed, 'Iran!' The heated discussion in Argentina's Congress marks the latest fallout from the luxury vacation that Shahram Dabiri and his wife took earlier this year. Dabiri had served as vice president of parliamentary affairs in Iran before being fired last week over the trip in Argentina, which Iran's president criticized as 'lavish' and 'indefensible.' Although Dabiri reportedly paid for the trip with his own money, several Instagram photos that showed him and his wife boarding an expensive cruise from southern Argentina to Antarctica and posing in what appears to be an opulent cathedral angered Iranians struggling to scrape by in the sanctions-hit economy. Argentines were also angered by Dabiri's trip, for a different reason. The South American country remains deeply traumatized by the bombing attacks against the Israeli Embassy and a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires in 1992 and 1994 respectively, which killed over 100 people. Despite probes marred by corruption and delays over the past three decades, Argentine prosecutors have long maintained that Iranian operatives and senior officials played key roles in the attacks. Argentina believes that Iran is shielding in the high echelons of its political establishment various people accused of having authorized the attack, including former Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi. Any incident involving Iranians in Argentina can quickly snowball into a crisis. Last year, for instance, Argentina grounded a Venezuelan-owned cargo jet and detained its Iranian crew members for an investigation into possible terrorism ties before releasing them for lack of evidence. Carignano, the left-leaning lawmaker on the parliamentary foreign affairs committee who previously served as an immigration minister, announced that she'd learned that Dabiri had not properly declared himself as a government official in his visa application. She said that he had applied for a tourist visa, identifying himself only as a doctor. There was no immediate response from Argentina's foreign ministry. The Iranian Embassy in Buenos Aires did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Iran's Tabriz University of Medical Sciences describes Dabiri as a physician and professor of nuclear medicine on its website. Two other lawmakers on Tuesday backed Carignano's order for a government inquiry into Dabiri's roughly two-week vacation. They asked how he'd managed to travel on a tourist visa and why the country's intelligence agency reportedly had not alerted immigration authorities to his entry. 'What happened? That's what we want to know,' Carignano wrote on social media Wednesday.
Egypt Independent
07-04-2025
- Business
- Egypt Independent
Iran's president fires deputy for ‘lavish' trip to Antarctica
CNN — Iran's president has fired one of his deputies for taking what he described as a 'lavish' recreational trip to Antarctica. President Masoud Pezeshkian ordered the removal of Shahram Dabiri from his position as vice president of parliamentary affairs in a decree on Saturday, describing the trip as both extravagant and indefensible. 'In a government that seeks to follow the values of the first Shia Imam (Imam Ali), and amidst significant economic pressures on our people, the lavish travels of government officials, even when personally financed, are indefensible,' Pezeshkian wrote. The president added that Dabiri's long-standing work in government should not preclude him from committing to what he called 'honesty, justice, and the promises we made to the people,' according to the state news agency IRNA. Dabiri denied wrongdoing but said he accepted the president's decision. Pezeshkian also said Dabiri's actions contradict the principles of 'simple living' that he says all officials should adhere to, especially during economic challenges. Iran's economy has been strained for years in part by US sanctions imposed in response to Tehran's nuclear program. Last week, the Iranian currency dropped to a record low of 1,039,000 rial to the US dollar, according to Reuters, citing data from Government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani was quoted by IRNA as saying that the president's decision to fire Dabiri shows that 'he has no pact of brotherhood with anyone, and his only criteria are efficacy, justice, honesty, and public interest.'
Saudi Gazette
07-04-2025
- Business
- Saudi Gazette
Iran's president fires deputy for ‘lavish' trip to Antarctica
TEHRAN — Iran's president has fired one of his deputies for taking what he described as a 'lavish' recreational trip to Antarctica. President Masoud Pezeshkian ordered the removal of Shahram Dabiri from his position as vice president of parliamentary affairs in a decree on Saturday, describing the trip as both extravagant and indefensible. 'In a government that seeks to follow the values of the first Shia Imam (Imam Ali), and amidst significant economic pressures on our people, the lavish travels of government officials, even when personally financed, are indefensible,' Pezeshkian wrote. The president added that Dabiri's long-standing work in government should not preclude him from committing to what he called 'honesty, justice, and the promises we made to the people,' according to the state news agency IRNA. Dabiri denied wrongdoing but said he accepted the president's decision. Pezeshkian also said Dabiri's actions contradict the principles of 'simple living' that he says all officials should adhere to, especially during economic challenges. Iran's economy has been strained for years in part by US sanctions imposed in response to Tehran's nuclear program. Last week, the Iranian currency dropped to a record low of 1,039,000 rial to the US dollar, according to Reuters, citing data from Government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani was quoted by IRNA as saying that the president's decision to fire Dabiri shows that 'he has no pact of brotherhood with anyone, and his only criteria are efficacy, justice, honesty, and public interest.' — CNN
