Media Wire

Iranian parliament votes to add Saturday as second official weekend day

The Iranian parliament voted on Wednesday to include Saturdays as the second official weekend on the country’s calendar, after a heated controversy over choosing between Saturday and Thursday.

136 lawmakers voted in favor of the bill, 66 voted against and 3 abstained. But it needs to be approved by the Guardian Council which has the veto power over legislations passed by the legislative body.

The bill was submitted to the parliament last year to shorten the work hours from 44 to 40 in a week and increase the official weekend days to two.

Currently, Friday is the only official weekend day in Iran, but many offices and private firms also have part-time or complete closures on Thursdays.

Those in favor of Friday and Saturday as the weekend days, mostly from the private sector, say with the Fridays and Saturday as official weekend days, Iran will be matched with the rest of the world in terms of wok days.

However, proponents of Thursday as the second official weekend day raise religious arguments.

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