Iran: Renewal Needed
TRANSCEND MEMBERS, 30 Mar 2026
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service
13 Mar 2026 – With the U.S.A.-Israeli -Iran armed conflict in a most destructive phase and spreading to Lebanon, a spirit of renewal and reconciliation in Iran is needed. This is the theme of Novroz, coming shortly.
“May the soul flourish;
May youth be as the new-grown grain.”
Novroz, usually celebrated on March 21 in Iran and Central Asia, is the “New Day”, the end of the old year with its hardships and deceptions and the start of the New Year to be filled with hope and optimism. It is a day for spiritual renewal and physical rejuvenation and is usually a time for reciting devotional poetry, presenting food with symbolic meaning to guests, and visits among family and close friends.
Novroz, which coincides with the Spring Equinox, is related to myths focused on the sun and thus symbolizes the connections of humans to nature. In some of the myths, Novroz is considered as symbolizing the first day of creation − thus a time when all can be newly created. It is a day between times − old time has died; new time will start the day after Novroz. In this one-day period without time, all is possible. The seeds are planted for a new birth. Among some who celebrate Nowruz, real seeds are planted, usually in seven pots with symbolic meanings of virtues. Their growth is an indication of how these virtues will manifest themselves in the coming year. Among those influenced by Islam and Christianity, Novroz is the day when God will raise the dead for the final judgment and the start of eternal life.
Novroz has an ancient Persian origin, related to Abura Mazda, the high god who was symbolized by the sun and manifested by fire. Novroz is also related to the opposite of fire, that is, water. However, water can also be considered not as opposite but as complementary, and thus fire-water can become symbols of harmony. Fire – as light, as an agent of purification, as a manifestation of the basic energy of life − played a large role in Zoroastrian thought and in the teachings of Zarathustra. Thus we find fire as a central symbol and incorporated into rituals among the Parsis in India, originally of Iranian origin.
From what is today Iran, Zoroastrian beliefs and ritual spread along the “Silk Road” through Central Asia to China, and in the other direction to the Arab world. As much of this area later came under the influence of Islam, elements of Novroz were given Islamic meanings to the extent that some today consider Novroz an “Islamic holiday”. Novroz is also celebrated among the Alawits in Syria, the Baha’i, the Yezidis, and the Kurds, each group adapting Nowruz to its spiritual framework.
A 2010 Nowruz celebration in Paris, France.
In Turkey, for many years, Nowruz was officially banned as being too related to the Kurds and thus to Kurdish demands for autonomy or an independent Kurdistan. I recall a number of years ago being invited to participate in a non-violent Kurdish protest in Turkey on Nowruz to protest the ban. I declined as the idea of going from Geneva to be put in a Turkish jail was not on top of my list of priorities. Fortunately, for the last few years, the ban has been lifted, and Kurds in Turkey can now celebrate openly Nowruz.
With many uprooted in Iran, and Afghans in Iran being pushed back to Afghanistan, strong measures for peacebuilding need to be taken. Thus we can join with many in the spirit of Novroz
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René Wadlow is a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment. He is President of the Association of World Citizens, an international peace organization with consultative status with ECOSOC, the United Nations organ facilitating international cooperation and problem-solving in economic and social issues, and editor of Transnational Perspectives.
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This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 30 Mar 2026.
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