United Nations celebrates International Day of Nowruz

Iran’s Ambassador to the UN Majid Takht-Ravanchi headed a virtual meeting held at the world body’s headquarters in New York to commemorate Nowruz, which marks the start of the Persian New Year and has been celebrated for 3,000 years.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, the president of the General Assembly, and ambassadors of the 11 other countries of the Nowruz civilization zone were in attendance.

Addressing the meeting, Takht-Ravanchi said, “Nowruz transcends all man-made borders and connects the hearts of the people, serving as the common language for a multitude of populations spanning different countries and ethnicities.”

“In a world faced with unprecedented global challenges, such as pandemic, unilateralism, extremism, violence, hostility and conflict, let us all be inspired by Nowruz and its promise of peace, harmony, solidarity and prosperity,” he added.

Ahead of the meeting, Takht-Ravanchi and the representatives of the other Nowruz-celebrating countries gathered at the Nowruz table, known as Haft-Sin in Persian, set at the UN HQ.

Nowruz is registered on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by 12 countries including Iran, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan Republic, India, Iraq, Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Since 2010, International Nowruz Day was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in a resolution, at the initiative of Iran and several countries that share this holiday.