Tehran, Iran, June 27
By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:
The Iranian business sector is examining the ground for changing the weekend days in their calendar.
The Tourism Committee of Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture (TCCIM) in a session said the consideration follows the objective of becoming more adjusted with the international business sector, TCCIM public relations told Trend June 26.
In Iran, Friday is the official weekend. Many organizations and companies have added Thursday as another weekend day in recent years. This has caused the country to be off the international system, as Iran is off on Thursday and Friday while the world runs, and runs on Saturday and Sunday, weekend days across the globe.
Iranians have to include Friday as a weekend day because of their Islamic culture. Muslims on Friday hold a special public prayers ceremony, one in each town or city, which necessitates the day to be off due to distance and time considerations.
The business sector of Iran is now thinking of a way to keep Friday off for religious considerations, while doing the possible to become more tuned with world business.
Thus, the TCCIM is considering a shift of the weekend from Thursday-Friday to Friday-Saturday.
The chamber announced that they will pursue their initiative via official bodies and also promote it by publically introducing its benefits.
However, the issue has met various and contradictory reactions from different circles across the country.