Woman minister fired for blasting cuts
Iran’s only woman Cabinet minister was sacked by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday as the regime sought a scapegoat for the country’s deepening health crisis.
Marzieh Vahid-Dastjerdi was fired as health minister after speaking out against government cuts to her department that have plunged Iran into a healthcare crisis, provoking widespread criticism of the regime at home.
Her promotion three years ago, when she became the first woman appointed to the Iranian Cabinet since the foundation of the Islamic Republic in 1979, was hailed as a watershed moment despite bitter opposition from hardliners.
But the 53-year-old’s relationship with Ahmadinejad soured as the regime slashed healthcare funding amid allegations that Iran’s ruling elite was profiteering from the crisis and placing the lives of ordinary Iranians at risk.
Iranian government data obtained by The Times in November showed that Iran had stockpiles of medicine to last 100 days. Many hospitals have run out of anaesthetic for operations, while the government has refused to release its dwindling foreign currency reserves to replenish drug stocks. About US$2 billion (NZ$2.4b) in funding, pledged by Ahmadinejad to the Health Ministry, has never materialised.
In recent weeks, Dastjerdi has been reduced to publicly begging for government cash to avert disaster. ‘‘We have been pursuing the currency that we were told was allocated to import medicine with since February but . . . the amount received is so little it’s not even worth mentioning.’’
Essential medical imports are exempt from the sanctions imposed by the West to curb Iran’s disputed nuclear programme. But it has emerged that a subsidised exchange rate, imposed by Tehran to ring-fence imports of food and medicine from the recent collapse in the currency, has instead been exploited by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard to bankroll the purchase of sports cars and luxury goods.
At the same time, the powerful militia has excluded the Health Ministry from access to cheap dollars. Forced to shop on the open market, health groups fall prey to unscrupulous currency dealers. Drugs for a host of diseases, including leukaemia and multiple sclerosis, have trebled in price.
The scandal caused outrage in Tehran, with furious accusations between Ahmadinejad and Iran’s Central Bank. But with a presidential election beckoning in June, Dastjerdi has been caught between rival factions looking to shift the blame. Powerless to secure funding for her ministry, she made an easy scapegoat, but her willing- ness to defend the rights of ordinary citizens has won her widespread sympathy.
‘‘Even when it was obvious it would get her fired, she has continued to speak out,’’ said one Iranian source.
Western governments are concerned that while they tighten pressure on Tehran over the nuclear programme, the country’s financial reserves are being hoarded by regime officials.
The latest round of US sanctions against Iran will try to target humanitarian corruption. Articles within the Pentagon’s budget for 2013 will give Washington powers to target Iranian companies profiteering from sanctions.
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