Not at all. The pro-science aspect of the Iranian people is one of its great strengths. And in my opinion sets it apart from many other countries in the region as well as apart from certain other at least officially "fundamentalist" belief based countries.
No my thinking is that a country that is facing a long term water crisis such that for a decade now some Iranian scientists have warned of Iran _massively depopulating_ because of it, should probably be absolutely laser focused on this epic existential threat. Bringing all resources, accepting any relevant assistance no matter from where and basically not splurging limited funds and resources on vanity projects. So far Iran's water policies have not helped but rather the opposite.
(My edit bar is grayed out, alas, so I'll quote the old fashioned way)
"In July 2013, Issa Kalantari, the Minister of Agricultural under president Hashemi Rafsanjani, told Ghanoon newspaper that the water crisis is the "main problem that threatens" Iran, adding that it is more dangerous "than Israel, USA or political fighting among the Iranian elite". If the water issue is not addressed, Iran could become "uninhabitable". If this situation is not reformed, in 30 years Iran will be a ghost town. Even if there is precipitation in the desert, there will be no yield, because the area for groundwater will be dried and water will remain at ground level and evaporate."
en.m.wikipedia.org
Reading up on the subject I have seen others echo this fear and that the threat has not gone away since 2013 but rather been exacerbated.
Of course if an Antarctic base will somehow help Iranian scientists understand weather patterns better and thus drought mitigation or something like that then this is a different story. It's not just tens of millions of USD plus more in upkeep being splurged (if it ever happens of course) for mere national pride brownie points.
Further reading on the subject:
A decline in average annual precipitation, rise in temperatures, and dire water shortages are leading drivers of climate-induced internal migration in Iran. This long-term trend was further exacerbated in 2022 by more intense heat waves, resulting in a spike in seasonal migration.
www.mei.edu