Parliament Adds Saturdays to Weekend Holidays; Ball in Guardian Council's Court

After weeks of controversy regarding the addition of a day to the weekend in Iran, parliament representatives approved in today's session that Fridays and Saturdays will be designated as weekend holidays. The implementation of this resolution depends on its approval by the Guardian Council. During the review of the bill to amend the Civil Service Law, representatives agreed with the main report of the Social Commission to increase weekend holidays with 136 votes in favor, 66 against, and 3 abstentions. Accordingly, Saturday will be a holiday, and the working hours of employees will be reduced from 44 hours to 40 hours per week. During today's session, a proposal to make Thursdays a holiday was also put to a vote, which representatives rejected. The decision regarding the increase in weekend holidays in Iran has recently turned into a confrontation between opponents and supporters. In the latest development, a member of the parliament's presiding board announced that they had consulted with some 'religious authorities' and stated that 'the offices of three religious authorities' have no problem with the holiday on Saturday. The Social Commission had approved the addition of Saturday to the weekend holidays in its report, while opponents suggested Thursday and considered Saturday holidays as following the 'Jews.' Mohsen Pirhadi, a member of the parliament's presiding board, stated that 'despite the maneuvers and accusations of some critics and opponents, after thorough investigations, it became clear that changing the holiday from 'Thursday and Friday' to 'Friday and Saturday' has no religious or legal prohibition and is considered a sovereign decision that merely requires a resolve and reform approach based on the interests and welfare of the country.' Recently, Iranian media reported on correspondence from the head of the Iran Chamber of Commerce with Ali Khamenei to obtain a 'government decree' for Saturday holidays instead of Thursdays to align holiday practices globally. The possibility of closing Thursdays instead of Saturdays, which was the main reason for opposition to Saturday holidays in Israel, has raised concerns among a significant number of economic activists. In this regard, the website 'Khabar Online' reported that the previous resolution of the Social Commission of the parliament has caused a wave of sadness among the private sector. They believe that by closing Thursdays, 'our gap with the world economy will become 4 days, and instead of compensating for our backwardness, we will fall further behind the world.' Part of Article 17 of the Islamic Republic's Constitution states that 'the official weekly holiday is Friday.' Given today's parliament decision, it is unclear whether the Guardian Council will consider this increase in weekend holidays as contrary to this constitutional principle or will agree with this change. A member of the parliament's presiding board stated that they have consulted with 'the offices of religious authorities' regarding adding Saturdays to the weekend holidays.