30,000 Iranian GPs unwilling to work over low fees, official says
Around 30,000 general practitioners in Iran are unwilling to practice due to low doctor's fees, according to Mohammad Raiszadeh, head of the Medical Council.
Around 30,000 general practitioners in Iran are unwilling to practice due to low doctor's fees, according to Mohammad Raiszadeh, head of the Medical Council.
"The problem we are facing is that general practitioners are not interested in pursuing specialization or working in the medical field. This issue cannot be resolved with such extremely low fees," Raiszadeh, who leads the non-governmental licensing and regulatory body for the medical profession, said Thursday.
The same official noted in November that, compared to the salaries of civil servants and the wages of workers, doctors' incomes have experienced minimal growth in recent years. Moreover, due to a persistent inflation rate exceeding 40%, nominal incomes have lost much of their purchasing power since 2019.
The Iranian government strictly regulates medical fees and annually announces chargeable rates for private general practitioners, specialists, and dentists.
In early April, for instance, doctor's fees for general practitioners and specialists were set at 1.26 million rials ($20) and 1.89 million rials ($30), respectively, for the next twelve months. The medical community argues that these tariffs for medical services do not align with inflation and has strongly objected to them.
“The cleric from the city of Ardabil has repeatedly used insulting expressions against Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani people and me,” Aliyev said during a press briefing on Tuesday.
Referring to Seyyed Hassan Ameli, the Friday Prayer Leader of Ardabil, Aliyev questioned Iran's leadership, asking, “What is his reaction, does he support this or not, and who will apologize to Azerbaijan? Will they apologize or not?”
The controversy stems from a recent event broadcast on IRIB News, where a local eulogist insulted both Aliyev and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, alleging that Aliyev had engaged in a "multi-billion dollar gamble with the Israelis", with whom Baku has good relations.
In December, Azerbaijan’s ministry of foreign affairs summoned Iran’s chargé d’affaires in Baku to formally protest the incident.
A day after Aliyev's remarks, Ali Akbar Ahmadian, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, arrived in Baku for what Iranian media described as "security diplomacy aimed at strengthening political-security relations with South Caucasus countries."
Ahmadian is expected to meet with President Aliyev and Azerbaijani officials before continuing to Yerevan for discussions with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
Long-standing disputes and security concerns
Aliyev's criticism extended to broader grievances, including Iran's facilitation of fuel transfers to Nagorno-Karabakh via Armenia, which Azerbaijan considers a violation of its sovereignty.
“We began to see that fuel trucks from Iran were regularly making trips to Karabakh from Armenia,” Aliyev said. After private efforts to stop the shipments failed, Azerbaijan made the issue public, exposing what Aliyev described as sloppy forgeries involving fake Armenian license plates on Iranian vehicles.
The Azerbaijani leader also criticized Iranian military exercises near their shared border, which he viewed as an attempt at intimidation. “If any military training is held on our border, we did the same on this side. We showed that we are not afraid of anyone,” he said.
Embassy attack and accountability
Aliyev revisited the January 2023 attack on Azerbaijan’s embassy in Tehran, labeling it an organized terrorist act. He pointed to a delayed police response and the immediate declaration of the assailant as mentally ill as evidence of a cover-up.
“We were officially promised...that the person would be sentenced to death,” Aliyev said. “But they deceived us again. The case was sent back to court for investigation. We know that death sentences in Iran are pronounced for less serious crimes and are immediately executed.”
Aliyev dismissed Iran’s expression of regret over the Ardebil cleric’s remarks as insufficient, demanding tangible consequences.
“We believe that the provincial mullah should be punished, at the very least dismissed from his post and made to apologize to Azerbaijan,” he said.
Aliyev’s remarks and Ahmadian’s visit to Baku highlight the complexity of Azerbaijan-Iran relations. While Ahmadian’s trip suggests Tehran’s interest in mitigating tensions, the outcomes of his discussions in Baku and Yerevan may shape the future trajectory of the strained ties.