Government offices in all provinces will begin work an hour later and end the day an hour and a half earlier. Offices in Tehran will open at 9 a.m. and close at 2:30 p.m., making for a 5 1/2-hour workday instead of an eight-hour workday.
The new hours came into effect Tuesday, which Iran declared to be the official start of the holy month of Ramadan. Most other Islamic countries started the month Monday.
The start of the lunar month is based on the first sighting of a sliver of the moon.
President Barack Obama released a special statement on the occasion of Ramadan and wished Muslims around the world a “blessed month.”
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper also issued a statement, wishing Canadian observers of Ramadan “a blessed month and peace and happiness throughout the year.”
Meanwhile, Tehran movie theaters announced plans to resume screening movies late into the night. Titled “Azan to Azan” (from the evening call to prayer to the dawn call to prayer), the cinemas will be screening films in many Iranian cities from after Iftar, the evening fast-breaking meal, until the early morning hours of the next day.
Although received enthusiastically by moviegoers, the project has had its detractors, including the Tehran police, who asked theaters to end screenings one hour ahead of the dawn call to prayer. During last year’s Azan to Azan, ticket sales jumped five times compared with the months preceding Ramadan.
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. Muslims around the world fast during this month from sunrise to sunset, refraining from food and drink, sexual activity, ill-behavior and all forms of excess. Muslims practice special patience, modesty and spiritual piety during this month in which the Qoran was revealed to Prophet Mohammad. Ramadan culminates in the great feast of Eid-e Fitr.
