Iranian leaders have promised the people better days, with the onset of the new Persian year.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said the new year is “an important and sensitive” one because of the upcoming presidential elections in June.
Khamenei welcomed the Iranian New Year as one of “production, support, and removal of barriers” in a live televised speech on Saturday.
In Washington, US President Joe Biden issued a Nowruz message calling for peace, prosperity and understanding.
“That is the message and the joy of Nowruz that we are honoring. This year, perhaps more than ever, that message is badly needed,” Biden said in a White House statement.
Biden’s administration is exploring ways to restore the 2015 nuclear deal that Iran signed with major world powers, but which was abandoned in 2018 by President Donald Trump who reimposed sanctions.
The US and the other Western powers which originally signed up to the deal appear to be at an impasse over which side should return to the accord first, making it unlikely US sanctions that have crippled its economy can be quickly removed.
In a separate message, President Hassan Rouhani said he was hopeful the new year will see the end of the sanctions.
“We will defeat the sanctions. I am more hopeful than eight years ago”, Rouhani said, referring to when he was elected for his first term.
Rouhani is barred from standing for a third term and the slate of presidential candidates has yet to be finalized.
“During the 42 years that have passed since the victory of the Revolution, I have not seen a year as difficult in terms of hardships and economic constraints as 1399,” he said, highlighting the hardships of the past year.
However, Rouhani said that this “difficult, cold season, huge plague and battle on multiple fronts” has turned into a proud and bright experience in the history of Iran thanks to the patience and resistance of the Iranian nation.
