What is typically a joyous holiday meant to kick off the Persian new year feels drastically different this year as many in Atlanta’s Iranian community worry about the safety of their relatives overseas.
Nowruz, the 3,000-year-old festival that coincides with the start of spring, begins Friday morning. But some Iranians in the Atlanta area say they are scaling back this year’s celebrations amid the ongoing war involving U.S. and Israeli forces that has killed more than 1,300 people in Iran.
Azadeh Vatanpour, executive director of the Persian Cultural Center of Atlanta, said her organization decided to cancel its annual Nowruz celebration at the downtown Westin this weekend because so many in their community are mourning the loss of loved ones.
“It’s very difficult during what’s happening to have DJs and loud music,” she said of their decision.
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
The 13-day holiday traditionally celebrates nature, hope, renewal and rebirth and can be a way to reconnect with Iranian heritage, several people told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. It’s a secular custom many remember fondly from their childhood, and it’s something they’ve passed along to their own children and grandchildren.
But with the internet still out across Iran and the war in its third week, many families in Atlanta can’t even check in on their loved ones, let alone celebrate with them.
“It is not a normal year for us,” said Shahrzad Shafiei, who left Iran when she was 12 years old and still has family there. “Everybody’s mourning the loss of all these people and everything that’s happening in Iran.”
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
At the cultural center in Gwinnett County, people were drinking coffee, playing backgammon and socializing Thursday afternoon.
A few minutes earlier, Vatanpour bid farewell to an older woman leaving the center.
The woman wished her well in Farsi and bid her a happy Nowruz, Vatanpour said, translating their conversation. Then the woman told her she hopes the war is over by next year.
Safiah Vafaeian, a nurse practitioner who moved to the U.S. with her husband and two young children four decades ago, said Nowruz won’t be the same this year.
“We’re not going to be celebrating like we have in the past,” she said.
For weeks, she’s had trouble reaching her three brothers and three sisters in Iran. She was finally able to connect with some of her relatives by phone the other day, but only for a minute or two.
“We have no way of communicating with them because there is no internet,” said Vafaeian, who lives in Brookhaven. ”We are very worried every day. We are very sad and most of us are going through a rough time."
Despite everything, some Iranian Americans feel it’s more important than ever to set up their ceremonial “Haft-seen” (also spelled Haft-Sin) tables, which are traditionally adorned with seven symbolic items, each beginning with a letter in Farsi similar to ‘S.’
The tables, or sofrehs, typically include apple, garlic, sumac, sprouts, vinegar, a fruit called senjed, and samanu, a sweet pudding made from wheat.
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Sepideh Kajbaf, a retired accountant who lives in East Cobb, said she feels it’s imperative to continue the tradition and start the new year on a positive note.
Nowruz, which translates to “new day,” is largely about letting go of the past and looking to the future. For Kajbaf, that’s more important now than ever.
“I was adamant that I am going to celebrate it, maybe not to the extent we did in prior years, but to make sure to mark this day,” she said. “It is part of our heritage and I strongly believe in sending up good vibes and having good intentions.”
The holiday is traditionally a time to celebrate the arrival of spring with friends and loved ones. But those hosting gatherings this year said they will be much smaller than usual and likely limited to members of their immediate families.
“When we’re depressed, how are we going to celebrate?” Vafaeian asked. “It’s very tough.”
Many Iranians are also divided in their opinions of the war itself. While some seem to welcome the military intervention by the U.S. and Israel, others expressed qualms about the mounting death toll and what might happen to Iran’s citizens once the bombing stops.
Mazi Mazloom, a Marietta defense attorney, is among those who support the war. Mazloom and his family left Iran and sought political asylum when he was 7. They arrived in the U.S. in 1979, four days before the start of the hostage crisis at the U.S. Embassy.
He said for his family, this year’s Nowruz marks “a different kind of celebration.”
“This is the first chance in 47 years that outside influences are helping the citizens to have a fighting chance at regime change,” he said. “It’s stressful and exciting at the same time.”
Mazloom has never been back to the country where he was born, but he said he’s open to visiting Iran if its government is toppled.
“We’re waiting with baited breath to see what happens,” he said.
Others seemed skeptical of the war and questioned whether it would bring about any meaningful change for their loved ones in Iran.
Credit: Anadolu via Getty Images
Credit: Anadolu via Getty Images
“War is always bad.” said Sheeva Joodaki, a software engineer who immigrated to the states in her 20s. Since the start of the conflict, she said she’s been glued to the news and constantly worried about her relatives back home.
“I haven’t talked to my father since the war started,” she said.
Joodaki’s 86-year-old father and her older sister both live in Tehran. She also has two other sisters who live in the U.S.
While she opposes Iran’s regime, the Roswell woman said she believes strongly that any shift toward democracy should happen within the country itself, not as the result of a war brought by the U.S. and Israel.
“It’s absolutely tragic,” Joodaki said, referring to the loss of civilian lives and the nation’s infrastructure.
She and her family didn’t feel like setting up their ceremonial table this year given everything that’s happening, she said.
“Everybody is worried about what’s going on,” she said. “Hopefully next year will be different.”
Choking back tears, Shafiei said her family doesn’t feel much like celebrating either. But she said she’s hopeful this conflict brings about meaningful change in her home country.
“We are hoping for a new day, a better day,” she said.
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Asad Nezani came to Atlanta for college in 1976 and has lived here ever since.
Five decades later, the Atlanta man is watching with great interest what’s been happening in Iran.
“We are just looking for peace in Iran, a democratic government that respects everybody’s rights,” he said. “We are saddened with the situation, but we want peace. That’s what we’re looking for.”
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Nowruz represents a rebirth of nature, he said, “but it also is a rebirth of our attitudes toward each other.”
Others said they are just trying to stay positive amid all the uncertainty, and feel this Nowruz is more important than ever.
“I feel like it could be a new beginning for everybody,” Kajbaf said. “Nobody knows what the future holds, but let’s be hopeful.”
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