Iran
Kurdistan Region President Nechrivan Barzani on October 8, 2023. Photo: Kurdistan Region Presidency
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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - President of the Kurdistan Region Nechirvan Barzani on Monday extended his congratulations to Iran’s top officials on the occasion of the Kurdish New Year (Newroz), and the Persian New Year (Nowruz), hoping that the shared celebrations will bring peace and stability in the region.
President Barzani sent four congratulatory messages to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, President Masoud Pezeshkian, Speaker of Parliament Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, reported the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA).
In his message to Araghchi, the President of the Kurdistan Region wrote, “I warmly and sincerely congratulate you” on the occasion, hoping that “the beginning of the new year, wishing you success and prosperity.”
President Barzani was further quoted by ISNA as wishing that this “shared celebration between us and the nations of the region, will bring peace, comfort, and stability to all, and will bring goodness and happiness to everyone.”
Newroz marks the first day of spring and is celebrated with great enthusiasm by Kurdish communities worldwide, who hold colorful and extravagant festivities, lighting large bonfires and perform the traditional Kurdish folk dance, Halparke, where people of all ages join hands and dance together.
The year 2025 corresponds to 2725 in the Kurdish calendar, with Newroz celebrations taking place from March 21 to 23.
The same holiday is observed by Persians and in Persian-speaking regions, including Iran and Afghanistan, where it is referred to as Nowruz and celebrated as the New Year in the Persian calendar. The current year in the Persian calendar is 1404, beginning on March 20, 2025.
In his messages to Iranian senior officials, President Barzani emphasized the cultural and historical ties that bind the peoples of the region, as well as the “friendly cooperation” between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Kurdistan Region.
He also reaffirmed “readiness and desire to strengthen, expand, and solidify relations and cooperation based on respect, good neighborliness, and common interests."
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