Excellencies, Dear Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen
At the onset, I would like to extend my appreciation for your worthy presence in this event particularly distinguished generals, dignitaries from government and ministry of foreign affairs, ambassadors, university professors and media members.
I am very pleased that on this beautiful night of the holy month of Ramadan, the month of mercy and grace of Allah, we are hosting this event to commemorate the International Day of Nowruz, in our brotherly and friendly country of Pakistan, and in the company of you honourable guests.
Nowruz is the ancient ritual of friendship, compassion and peaceful coexistence. A ritual celebrated by our ancestors in a wider area from beyond the borders of China to the Mediterranean Sea and even beyond. It is a ritual that is so old, but has not become out-dated, but it is even honoured more brilliantly and beautifully every year than before. This ancient ritual does not belong only to the countries that are called Nowruz area, the representatives of which we are hosting tonight, but it belongs to all the people of the planet.
I would like to mention only two government points:
Firstly: After the advent of Islam, the holy Prophet of Islam stood up against many popular ignorant traditions and removed them, but we are proud that Islam gave approval to Nowruz as a Parsi tradition. The prayer that I read at the beginning of my speech shows the relevance of this natural development to the God as the creator.
Secondly: In 2010, the UN General Assembly designated March 21st as the International Day of Nowruz due to the peace-seeking and love-yearning nature of Nowruz. Nowruz was also registered as the intangible cultural heritage of humanity by UNESCO in 2016.
One of the symbols of Nowruz is “Haft Seen Table”. This table is decorated with the objects that symbolize purity, light, livelihood and blessing. You can see a sample of it in this hall tonight, as well as a table beautifully decorated by our friendly and brotherly country of Tajikistan. I appreciate Tajikistan for participating in this event. We declare readiness to hold this event next year with more glory and with the participation of more countries in the Nowruz civilisation area.
While Nowruz and Ramadan call humanity to peace and friendship, the modern ignorance, by the deceptive narration of human rights, denies peace and friendship in an all-round way and it has committed genocide and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip, as a result of which, more than one hundred thousand innocent children, women and men have been martyred or injured, and ruined the buildings and infrastructures.
Finally, I avail the opportunity to extend my warmest congratulations to the government and nation of Pakistan on March 23rd as the Pakistan Day. At the end of a day of fasting, we pray and ask the Almighty Allah to save the oppressed people of Palestine from this deep suffering and the devil with the blessings of the holy month of Ramadan and Nowruz, both of which renew material and spiritual life. We pray that the inhumane crimes in this unjustly-occupied land and everywhere on this earth be stopped and the humanity be blessed with a time full of peace, hope, love and peaceful coexistence. Amen.
Dr. Reza Amiri Moghadam
Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Pakistan
