Iran considers shifting its weekend to match the west

The year is 1403 in the Persian desktop calendar
The year is 1403 in the Persian calendar

Travel around China and the time zone never changes. Compare this to Canada which is about the same size as China and Canada switches time zones 3.5 times from one coast to the other. It is normally known as the China Standard Time (CST).

Iran, looking to become more of a Canada than a China has expressed its interest in shifting its work week from a Thursday-Friday to a Friday-Saturday model. Other Middle East countries such as Israel follow a Friday-Saturday model, whereby Sunday is a regular workday. Some people work half days on Friday mornings.

The current weekend in Iran as it is means Iran only matches the global markets for four consecutive days of the week, harming economic growth, according to to economists in Iran.

While the Iranian parliament agreed to shift the weekend this past May 15, the Islamic Guardian Council, rejected it saying it will harm Islamic values.

Persian social media is full of young people who say they were shot in the eye by security forces
Persian social media is full of young people who say they were shot in the eye by security forces

Iran, once a western-like country with freedom of culture, movement, dress, and expression is now run by Islamic ideologists who impose sharia law on Iranian people who are not Muslim or who identify as secular. Iran also has an Islamic morality police that arrest women for not wearing the appropriate Muslim dress code. Some women have died in custody of the morality police. Others have lost eyes protesting the tough, conservative control the Iranian regime has on the people.

Some of the outspoken people from Iran are saying the recent attack on the Iranian-funded Hezbollah is poetic justice. Hundreds of pagers blew up last week, causing blindness in hundreds of terrorists who were waiting for commands from Hassan Nasrallah.

“The hypocrisy is glaring: the same regime that intentionally blinded peaceful ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ protesters in Iran is now offering medical care to Hezbollah operatives who lost their eyesight to pager explosions,” says Masih Alinejad, an activast against the Iranian regime, who is based in the US: “Two years ago, when people took to the streets to peacefully protest the brutal murder of #MahsaAmini at the hands of the morality police, the IRGC and some Hezbollah operatives shot people in the eyes and blinded them.

“Now, on the second anniversary of the uprising, the very regime’s ambassador to Lebanon and its other proxies have lost their eyes.”

 

Karin Kloosterman
Karin Kloostermanhttp://www.greenprophet.com
Karin Kloosterman is an award-winning journalist, innovation strategist, and founder of Green Prophet, one of the Middle East’s pioneering sustainability platforms. She has ranked in the Top 10 of Verizon innovation competitions, participated in NASA-linked challenges, and spoken worldwide on climate, food security, and future resilience. With an IoT technology patent, features in Canada’s National Post, and leadership inside teams building next-generation agricultural and planetary systems — including Mars-farming concepts — Karin operates at the intersection of storytelling, science, and systems change. She doesn’t report on the future – she helps design it. Reach out directly to [email protected]

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