World celebrates Persian New Year, Nowruz

Two special occasions in Pakistan and Switzerland have celebrated the Persian New Year, Nowruz, along with all Persians around the globe.

The International Nowruz Day was celebrated in the Swiss city of Geneva on March 21, hosted by Iran and ten other countries.

The ceremony was held at the World Intellectual Property Organization building in Geneva.

During the ceremony, Iranian ambassador to the UN office at Geneva, Esmaeil Baghaei, delivered a speech on behalf of the 11 countries which celebrate Nowruz, discussing the philosophy of Nowruz and the importance of getting inspiration from this ancient rite to promote solidarity, friendship and mutual respect among nations.

Baghaei described Nowruz as the bearer of universal message of welcoming transformation and renewal, and perceiving the dependency of human beings on nature and the environment.

The Nowruz ceremony in Geneva was attended by more than 2000 people, including ambassadors and diplomats, officials and staff from international organizations and Iranians living in Switzerland.

In addition to the Islamic Republic of Iran, which coordinated the ceremony, representatives from Afghanistan, Iraq, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkey also participated in the event.

A festival titled ‘Rites and Rituals of Nowruz’ has also been held in Islamabad, capital of Pakistan, on Sunday with participation of the Islamic Republic of Iran and other countries which celebrate the Persian New Year.

Performing local music and spreading Haft-seen table in Iranian pavilion were highly welcomed by foreign guests.

As a special guest, Pakistani President Arif Alvi attended Iran’s pavilion and held talks with ambassador and cultural attaché of Iranian Embassy in Pakistan over participation of Iran in organizing International Nowruz Festival.

Nowruz was inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009. It has been recognized as an international day by the UN General Assembly since 2010.

It has been turned into a common language of millions of people in Asia and Europe, especially Indian Subcontinent, Central Asia, Middle East, Caucasus, Balkans, Black Sea region and many other parts of the world.

MG/MG