Iranian Red Crescent Society
Non-governmental organization based in Iran
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The Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS), officially the Red Crescent Society of the Islamic Republic of Iran (RCSIRI) (Persian: جمعیت هلال احمر جمهوری اسلامی ایران, romanized: Jamʿiyyat-e Helâl-e Ahmar-e Jomhuri-ye Eslâmi-ye Irân) is a non-governmental humanitarian organization in Iran.[1] Founded as the Red Lion and Sun Society in 1922,[4] it became affiliated with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in 1924[6] and changed its name and emblem in 1980, informing the international community of Hilal Ahmar adoption[7] while assuming the right to adopt the former emblem in future.[1]
| جمعیت هلال احمر جمهوری اسلامی ایران | |
| |
| Abbreviation | IRCS |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1922 |
| Founder | Amir Amir-Aʿlam[1] |
| Type | NGO |
| Legal status | Legislated by the Iranian Parliament on 28 April 1988[1] |
| Purpose | Humanitarian aid |
| Headquarters | Building of Peace, 136 Valiasr Street, Tehran |
Region served | Iran |
| Services |
|
| Fields |
|
Secretary General | Dr. Yaghob Soleymani |
President | Pirhossein Kolivand[2] |
| Budget | $231.36 million[3] (2016–17) |
| Staff | 7,000 paid employees[4] (2005) |
| Volunteers | 2,000,000[5] (2017) |
| Website | rcs.ir |
Formerly called | Red Lion and Sun Society |
The society is one of the world's largest national societies within IFRC[4] and is noted for its special expertise in responding to earthquakes.[8]
Since inception, the IRCS has participated in a variety of public activities. Its core activity is to perform relief and rescue operations to help victims and the injured in natural disasters and accidents. It also engages a in wide range of humanitarian services in health and rehabilitation, training and research.[4] The society had a therapeutic approach and was regarded a major healthcare institution with thousands of hospital beds across the country until 1979, when all of its medical facilities were transferred to the Ministry of Health.[1]
IRCS is an example of strong national societies that play an important role domestically[8] and is held in high esteem by the Iranian general public.[4]
Organization
IRCS has 30 governorate headquarters, one in each province of Iran, and 330 branches throughout the country, as of 2005.[4] Based on the latest structure, it is made up of four departments: relief and rescue (emdād wa najāt), medical provisions (tadārokāt-e pezeški), volunteers (dāvṭalabān), and youth (javānān).[1] The latter is largely made up of high school and university student members.[4]
According to the law enacted by the Iranian Parliament, the society is run by a chairman appointed by the President of Iran. This procedure is in contrast with the elective nature of a society chairman as suggested by the IFRC.[1] The secretary general is responsible for the administrative and executive affairs.[1]
Other subordinates
IRCS owns and runs Helal Iran Textile Industries Co., a producer of blankets and tents.[10] SOHA, a manufacturer of disposable medical devices is also owned by the society,[11] as well as Shahrvand, a daily newspaper.[12] The Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal, an English language peer-reviewed journal on clinical and scientific medicine, is another publication of IRCS.[13]
Presidents
Heads of the society have been:[1]
- 1922–1949: Amir Amir-A'lam (deputy director)
- 1922–1925: Mohammad Hassan Mirza (honorary)
- 1927–1931: Mostowfi ol-Mamalek (chairman)
- 1931–1941: Reza Pahlavi (symbolic)
- 1941–1949: Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
- 1949–1979: Hossein Khatibi Nouri (managing director)
- 1949–1979: Shams Pahlavi (chairwoman)
- 1979–1980: Kazem Sami
- 1980–1981: Ali Behzadnia
- 1981–1983: Hassan Firouzabadi
- 1983–1999: Seifollah Vahid Dastjerdi
- 1999–2006: Ahmad-Ali Nourbala
- 2006–2010: Masoud Khatami
- 2010–2013: Abolhassan Faqih
- 2013–2014: Mohammad Farhadi
- 2014–2017: Amir-Mohsen Ziayi
- 2017–2019: Ali Asqar Peyvandi
- 2020–2021: Karim Hemmati
- 2021–present: Pirhossein Kolivand
