Nowruz, meaning “new day” in Persian, is a secular holiday to mark the start of spring and the new year on the Iranian calendar.
AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi
Tehran’s old main bazaar bustles with activity, as vendors and shopkeepers work and wait for customers preparing for Nowruz.
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Amin Mohammad Jamali / Getty Images
Iranians traditionally decorate a ceremonial table of Nowruz with goldfish, wheat grass, candles, mirrors, and other symbolic items.
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A traditional Haft Sin.
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Amin Mohammad Jamali / Getty Images
A man dressed as a traditional character ‘Haji Firouz’ heralds in Nowruz.
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AP Photo/Vahid Salemi
An elderly Iranian woman looks at the graves of soldiers who were killed during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.
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The Associated Press
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Azad Lashkari / Reuters
Iraqi Kurds celebrate in Erbil, in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq.
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Read more: http://buzzfeed.com/miriamberger/19-beautiful-pictures-from-celebrations-of-the-persian-new-y