PARIS (AP) — When Iran erupted in nationwide protests at the end of 2025, Shayan Ghadimi's mother returned to the country from Paris to see the uprising for herself.
Her absence — and the struggle to stay in touch through the bloody crackdown that followed and now the Iran war — hang over the family. Like many Iranians outside the country, they will mark the normally festive Persian new year, known as Nowruz, with heavy hearts — or not at all.
Ghadimi's 70-year-old mother had watched the early protests on TV. “We could see the market closed, the people in the street. She said, ‘I want to be there,’” the 41-year-old Ghadimi said of her mother, as she prepared to serve lunches in the spice-scented restaurant she runs in Paris.
“Now, she is all alone ... with no way to stay in contact, watching the sky. I cannot imagine the state she is in,” Ghadimi said.
An Iranian cultural center in Paris that organizes music events for Nowruz says it's in mourning. In the United States, some Iranian American communities also canceled or scaled back festivities.
Nowruz, or “new day” in Farsi, coincides with the spring equinox and is celebrated from Afghanistan to Turkey. Iranians of diverse faiths mark Nowruz — which is rooted in Zoroastrian tradition dating back millennia — despite occasional efforts by hard-liners to discourage it.
Celebrating together for comfort
Shakiba Edighoffer, grocery shopping in Paris for Nowruz, said she and Iranian friends are on a “kind of emotional roller coaster” as the war rages. Israel and the United States are attacking Iran's leaders and military while the Islamic Republic fires missiles and drones at Israel and Gulf Arab states.
“You hear news about this or that leader of the Islamic Republic being eliminated … about executions or bombings,” the makeup artist said.
With communications largely severed, trying to find out how family and friends are faring under bombardments is stressful.
Source: WPLG
