Behyar Soleymani, an MP for Fasa, Fars province, said that the high number of national holidays, around 145 days a year, "has inflicted irreparable damages on the well-being of the community and we have no other alternative but to cut down on this number."

It is because the country is totally paralyzed due to the high number of holidays and therefore the government should think of a proper solution to this problem, he noted.

Soleymani, who is also a member of the Majlis Ecomomic Commission went on to add that the Parliament is to seriously follow up the matter and it is only appropriate that the government examine the issue within the framework of a bill and review the case."

Also talking to the daily was MP from Shahriyar, Tehran province, Mohammad Ali Kouzegar, who said that the Parliament should in the near future discuss ways of reducing national holidays.

"Iran has a very high number of annual national holidays; practically some 40 to 50 percent of our active work time is counted as holidays," he pointed out.

Kouzegar who is also a rapporteur for the Majlis Health Commission added that "the national holidays in the country do not comply with the norms in other parts of the planet either.

"This has also created many problems in communicating with other countries of the world -- more in terms of doing business with other countries."

He stressed that the 20 days of nowrouz holidays, to mark the Iranian New Year, actually paralized the country and therefore urged the Parliament to resolve the sensitive issue.

"We should promulgate the culture that commemorates special occasions. But this should not necessarily imply that we take time off from work," he adivsed.

"We can continue to mark days such as the death anniversary of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Ali (AS) and Ashura as national holidays, but should not close down the country on other occasions," he concluded.

Mohammad Hossein Malayeri, who is a senior advisor at Iran's Strategic Studies Center told the daily that it is the duty of the government as well as the Parliament to devise a mechanism to curb the adverse effects of the holidays.

"The Parliament, which is also labeled as the `Majlis of Reforms', is dutybound to accomplish this target," he stressed.

He believed that the 145 holidays during the year declared by the government, completey ruin Iran's position in the global markets.

Regarding the week-end holidays in Iran, the advisor said that the country's "officialdom should have thought up a remedy duiring the early days of the Islamic Revolution when the situation was more ripe for exercizing fundamental changes in the general modus operandi of the country."

This way, "the country would not have fallen behind in the international arena either," he added.

"By reducing the number of unnecessary holidays, the Majlis should find other ways of commemorating special occasions," he commented, noting that during the recent 20-days of norouz holidays, the inflation rate went up due to poor productivity."