More than 300 million people celebrate Nowruz

Nowruz is the Persian New Year, an ancient cultural celebration in which millions of people around the world mark the beginning of spring.

The 13-day holiday celebration begins on the first day of spring. The Iranian calendar is a solar calendar, meaning that time is determined, through celestial observations, by the movement of the Earth around the sun. Thus, the first day of the year always begins with the natural wonder of the vernal equinox, which this year was on March 20th. Even though it is referred to as Iranian new year, it is not exclusive to Iran as other countries celebrate the festival. Nowruz has its roots in Iran and comes from Zoroastrianism, but it is characterized by different ethnic and religious groups. The UN has praised Nowruz for promoting “peace and intimacy.” Nowruz, which literally translates to “new day” in Persian is a world holiday mostly in Iran, as well as in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, India, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan , Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Families, who gather to watch the holiday rituals, shout in the new year. around the Haftsin table, one of several holiday customs during the Nowruz festival, which also includes cleaning houses, visiting family and friends, and decorating the house with flowers and beautiful objects. Haftsin, or Haft Seen, is the special board for Nowruz. The table contains seven items beginning with the letter Persia S; Haft is the Persian word for seven.

Everything symbolizes something positive for the coming year: Sumac, which is a crushed spice of berries, symbolizes the sunrise of the spice of life; Senjed, which is a sweet, dried fruit of the lotus tree, symbolizes love and affection; Serkeh, who is a grapevine, symbolizes patience and age; Seeb, who is an apple, symbolizes health and beauty; Sir, who is a garl, symbolizes good health; Samanu, who is a pole of wheat, symbolizes the fertility and sweetness of life; Sabzeh, which is a grass sprouted wheat, symbolizes rebirth and renewal of nature. March 21 was officially recognized in 2010 as International Nowruz Day by the United Nations at the request of countries including Afghanistan, Albania, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Turkey and Turkmenistan.Because of the COVID- 19 pandemic, most of this year’s celebration is being held to close a family at home, or virtual.Iranian leaders Saturday, the first day of this year’s Nowruz celebration, promising better times ahead of their people who have been hit hard by conomic hardship as a result of U.S. sanctions and the coronavirus. Kupenei President Ali Khamenei said the new year would be “representation, support and the removal of obstacles,” while the forthcoming national election also makes it “important and sensible.” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, whose second term ends in June, said the past year was “the worst in 60 years in terms of oil revenues,” but he promised improvements, saying the economy is kicking back. “In the 42 years since the Rebellion (Islam), I can remember no year as hard and difficult as 1399 in terms of economic constraints,” Rouhani said, referring to the year on the Persian calendar But the new year will see “widespread access to vaccines while the coronavirus is brought under control, and the end of sanctions after three years of invasion,” he said. generations and within families, “the United Nations says. This is a time of reconciliation and neighborhood, “developed into cultural diversity and friendship among people and different communities.” U.S. Special Ambassador to Iran Robert Malley @USEnvoyIran tweeted: “Wishing everyone who #Nowruz celebrates year of health, hope & wealth.May this year lead Iran & the United States on a path to constructive helpful communication based on partnership, and may strengthen the ties between the American people and Iran.E Eid-eh Shoma Mobarak! ”