Friday, March 21, 2025
As Now Ruz approached, some in the opposition sought to make an antiregime statement over the holiday while some in the regime sought to crack the whip because the holy fasting month of Ramadan overlaps with the festive Now Ruz season this year. But the poor economic fate of the country smothered the holiday. A hypermarket owner in Tehran told Iran International, “This is nothing like the Now Ruz seasons we used to see.
People barely buy anything beyond absolute necessities. Our bestsellers now are cigarettes and large bottles of soda, while even basic cleaning products for Now Ruz housecleaning sit untouched on the shelves.” An employee at a clothing store in Tehran’s northern Mirdamad district said, “Customers used to rush in to buy new clothes for Now Ruz. Now, people walk in, check the prices, and leave empty-handed. It’s an economic catastrophe.”
A shopkeeper added, “People are collapsing under poverty, yet the Islamic Republic does nothing to ease their suffering. The streets are full of window-shoppers who can’t afford anything, and business owners are struggling with rising utility bills.” Some in the regime don’t want people to be too happy with the holiday. Iran’s intelligence service has summoned dozens of people and instructed them not to wear traditional Kurdish clothing during the holidays.
”Between Tuesday, March 4, and Thursday, March 6, more than 60 young people from Marivan were summoned by the city’s Intelligence Department,” said the Norway-based Hengaw human rights organization. They “were warned to refrain from participating in any special Now Ruz ceremonies while wearing jamaneh and khaki clothing,” Hengaw said. Jamaneh and khaki are traditional Kurdish outfits that have often been worn by opposition groups and are considered symbols of resistance.
Many people will share photographs of themselves wearing traditional attire on social media as an act of defiance. The Intelligence Ministry has also exerted pressure on managers of venues and banquet halls, warning them not to allow guests to wear traditional clothing, according to Hengaw. This is not the first time the authorities have tried to stamp out the practice.
In January, 58 Kurds from Mahabad, Bukan, and Piranshahr, including family members of victims of the Woman, Life, Freedom protest movement, were summoned by Iran’s Judiciary after attending a wedding ceremony wearing traditional clothes. “The prosecutor of Piranshahr accused these individuals of ‘propaganda against the state’ for celebrating, dancing, and symbolically expressing Kurdish identity at the wedding,” Hengaw reported in January.
Iran frequently detains Kurdish civilians during March every year. It prohibits the use of Kurdish symbols and songs during the holidays and has banned traditional Kurdish folk dances known as halparke, performed by mixed groups of men and women. Immediately after the 1979 revolution, some clerics tried to erase Now Ruz from society, but more practical-minded heads prevailed. Instead, the clerics took after Chaharshanbeh Souri, the evening celebrated by jumping over bonfires set in streets, alleys and parks, which falls a few days before the new year and effectively kicks off the season. But the clergy sees fire-jumping as thoroughly pagan.
That effort to suppress Chaharshanbeh Souri continues, but with continuing lack of success. In fact, many think Chaharshanbeh Souri is celebrated more widely and enthusiastically today than before the revolution because it is now seen as an act of rebellion.
