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Nowruz

Festival goers dance at the Nowruz spring equinox festival at the Museum of Jewish Heritage. (Jackie Hajdenberg via JTA)
March 31, 2026, 5:42 am
War with Iran casts a shadow as Persian Jews mark Nowruz in New York City
Iranians in the diaspora now have some tentative hope there could be change for the better in their homeland, while thousands of Jews still there are thought to be in new peril
By Jackie Hajdenberg
Iranians shop at the Tajrish Bazaar in northern Tehran on March 19, 2026, on the eve of Nowruz, the Persian New Year. (AFP)
March 23, 2026, 7:27 pm
Iranian Israelis mark Nowruz, the Persian New Year, as an act of solidarity and resistance
Their ‘Haft-sin’ tables set with symbolic items and Persian dishes, those with roots in Iran focus on brethren back home as the Islamic regime clamps down amid war with the US and Israel
By Jessica Steinberg
A woman shops for flowers ahead of the Persian New Year, or Nowruz, in northern Tehran, Iran, March 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
March 20, 2026, 2:00 am
‘Hope and fear’: Iranians celebrate new year darkened by losses of war, regime crackdown
Iranians at home and abroad are marking Nowruz, the Persian New Year, under the shadow of war, uncertain of what their shared future will look like once the smoke clears
By Susannah Walden
Illustrative: An Iranian jumps over a bonfire during the pre-Islamic Persian fire festival of Chaharshanbe Suri, held annually on the last Wednesday eve before the Spring holiday of Nowruz, in Tehran, Iran, on March 14, 2023. (ATTA KENARE / AFP)
March 18, 2026, 3:18 am
PM urges Iranians to celebrate Persian fire festival, in apparent bid to spark protests
Remarks come as Israeli officials reported to assess protesters would be ‘slaughtered’; some in Iran said marking Chaharshanbe Suri publicly despite Islamic Republic’s warning not to
By Lazar Berman and ToI Staff
A kite flies over a park during the ancient annual public picnic day, called Sizdeh Bedar, in the 13th and last day of Nowruz, Iranian New Year holidays, in Tehran, Iran, April 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
March 17, 2026, 9:48 pm
Pro-regime crowds gather in Iran as authorities seek to squelch potential protests on Nowruz
Leaders have urged displays of support, warned against usual new year period mass festivities, citing need to ‘neutralize the potential plots of elements of the Zionist enemy’
By AFP
Mourners carry the bodies of Kurdish victims killed the previous night by Turkish-backed fighters amid Nowruz New Year celebrations in Jindayris in the rebel-held province of Aleppo, during a mass funeral in Jindayris on March 21, 2023. (Omar Haj Kadour/AFP)
March 21, 2023, 7:08 pm
Killing of Kurds in northern Syria sparks protests, tensions
Thousands take to streets after four Syrian Kurds killed by Turkish-backed armed group in town of Jinderis as they celebrated Nowruz holiday
By GHAITH ALSAYED
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett speaks in a video statement addressed to Iranians for Nowruz, March 20, 2022. (Screen capture: YouTube)
March 20, 2022, 9:44 pm
In message to Iranians, Bennett says Israel hopes they get rid of ‘cruel regime’
On Persian new year, PM lauds both peoples’ ‘vibrant histories and cultures’; IDF posts tweet telling Tehran ‘missiles will not fix acute water shortage’
By ToI Staff
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addresses the nation in a televised speech marking the Iranian New Year, in Tehran, Iran, March 21, 2021. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)
March 20, 2022, 9:32 pm
Marking Persian New Year, Iran’s supreme leader hopes for economic improvement
Addressing the nation, Khamenei says country to focus on creating jobs, as it continues to suffer under ‘maximum pressure campaign’ imposed by Trump in 2018
By AFP
Performers play folklore music welcoming Persian New Year, or Nowruz, meaning 'New Day,' in northern Tajrish Square, Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, March 17, 2021. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
March 20, 2021, 10:24 am
A New Year in Iran, but country’s viral, economic crises remain the same
Citizens have been hit hard by the pandemic, coupled with economic hardship exacerbated by US sanctions
By Amir Vahdat and Isabel Debre
An Iranian woman wearing a protective face mask chooses traditional items ahead of Nowruz, the national New Year 2-week celebration, at the Tajrish Bazaar in the capital Tehran on March 19, 2020, despite the heavy death toll due to infections by the novel coronavirus in the country (STR / AFP)
March 21, 2020, 7:39 am
Iran’s leaders take upbeat tone even as virus deaths climb
In speech marking Persian new year, Khamenei says it will be ‘the year of leaps in production’ in Iran’s economy; highlights downing of US drone, missile strikes on American bases
By Nasser Karimi
Iranians, some wearing protective masks, gather inside the capital Tehran's grand bazaar, during the coronavirus pandemic crisis, on March 18, 2020 (AFP)
March 19, 2020, 5:55 pm
Iran says coronavirus death toll reaches 1,284
Health Ministry says number of infections dropped in 11 of the country’s 31 provinces, but experts fear numbers under-reported; 10,000 prisoners to be freed in Nowruz amnesty
By ToI Staff and AFP
In this photo from March 16, 2019, an Iranian worker carries Iranian flags prior to an inauguration ceremony of a natural gas refinery at the South Pars gas field on the northern coast of the Persian Gulf, in Asaluyeh, Iran. (AP/Vahid Salemi)
March 21, 2019, 6:29 am
Iran struggling under reimposed sanctions, country’s leaders say
In Nowruz holiday messages, Khamenei calls economic woes Tehran’s ‘most urgent, serious problem’; Rouhani says others will soon regret putting financial restraints on Iran
By AFP
An Iranian man jumps over a bonfire March 19, 2019 in Tehran as Iranians observed a nearly 4,000-year-old Persian tradition known as the Festival of Fire. (AP/Ebrahim Noroozi)
March 20, 2019, 10:07 am
Iran’s woes go up in smoke during fire festival
Iranians mark Nowruz Festival of Fire with bonfires, fireworks
By Amir Vahdat
President Donald Trump walks to the White House after arriving on Marine One, Sunday, March 19, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
March 23, 2017, 1:37 pm
Trump issues warm New Year greeting to Iranians
White House statement mentions US president’s ‘wonderful friendships’ with Iranian-Americans, a ‘successful immigrant group’
By AFP
In this Sept. 30, 2015 file photo released by the official website of Khamenei's office, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attends a graduation ceremony of Iranian Navy cadets in the northern city of Noshahr, Iran. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)
March 21, 2017, 8:41 am
Undermining Iran’s president, supreme leader says economy ailing
Hassan Rouhani, who is seeking to run for a second term in May, insists the economy has stabilized
By AFP
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