The CEO of the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults: A country with Uncle Nowruz does not need Santa Claus.
The widespread public attendance at the Christmas celebration in the Vank Church of Isfahan has elicited reactions from the officials of the Islamic Republic. Hamed Alamaty, the CEO of the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults, referred to this attendance as a cultural invasion in a television program, stating that it should be countered by promoting authentic Iranian stories.
He said that a country with the stories of Uncle Nowruz and Granny Frost does not need Santa Claus and Christmas celebrations.
This cultural official in the Islamic Republic emphasizes strengthening the foundations of Iranian culture, while the government’s efforts to change the names of the national ceremonies of Yalda and Sizdah Bedar in the official calendar faced widespread negative reactions from the society.
