Tehran — This year, Nowruz was different. It is no exaggeration to call it the most unprecedented Nowruz in Iran’s contemporary history. The Persian year 1404 was a difficult and bitter one for Iranians. Early in the year, the country became embroiled in a 12-day war imposed by the United States and Israel, during which more than a thousand honorable Iranian citizens lost their lives and became victims of the lies, ambitions, and crimes of those two regimes.

Roughly seven months later, Iran faced a second confrontation. Its enemies imposed another war through the design of a complex coup, attempting to achieve — this time via street unrest and a form of postmodern "regime change" — what they had failed to accomplish in the 12-day war. Yet the Iranian people once again thwarted this effort, preventing the realization of those hostile objectives.

Finally, 21 days ago, a third war was set in motion—one that began with the assassination of Leader of the Islamic Revoluton Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei. Those behind the act appeared to believe that by removing him, Iran would swiftly descend into internal collapse. But this proved to be a profound miscalculation. At 86, he might, under normal circumstances, have passed away naturally within a few years. Instead, his tragic killing—along with several members of his family, including his daughter and granddaughter—transformed him into a mythic figure, etching his name permanently into Iran’s historical memory. He was a leader who did not merely speak of resistance, but lived it—ultimately sacrificing both his own life and those of his loved ones in that path.

Another critical issue was that of succession. For years—particularly over the past decade—Iran’s adversaries had regarded the question of leadership succession as a golden opportunity: a chance to overthrow the Islamic Republic or, at the very least, redirect it in a manner aligned with Western interests. Yet the assassination of Ayatollah Khamenei, coupled with the wartime conditions, turned this perceived vulnerability into an opportunity for Iran. With the selection of Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei, those ambitions and calculations were effectively undone.

Despite the pain and suffering it imposed, the recent war awakened the revolutionary spirit of the nation. For 21 consecutive nights, people have filled public squares across the country, including in Tehran. Waving the national tricolor, they gather even as the sounds of intense bombardment and air defense echo around them, chanting slogans that many Western analysts had assumed belonged to a bygone era.

On Friday evening, on the eve of the New Year, people once again gathered in public squares to celebrate the arrival of spring together. At Enghelab Square in Tehran—now one of the main hubs of large and passionate public gatherings—an emotional scene unfolded. As a video of the martyred leader’s speech was played, the crowd wept like spring rain, while a beautiful rainbow stretched across the sky above them.

For Iranians, spring marks the beginning of a new year—a passage from the cold and darkness of winter into the beauty of a new season. Yesterday, I drove through many streets of Tehran, from the southern districts to the center and the north. What I saw was life itself—the very thing the people of Iran are fiercely defending, even as it comes under attack. Street vendors were selling flowers, and a vibrant sense of life flowed through the great city. These people, and this spirit, cannot be defeated. Just as no winter is everlasting, spring will inevitably arrive.

In closing, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my dedicated and professional colleagues at the Tehran Times. In the early days of the war, after the area surrounding the newspaper’s old building was repeatedly struck by heavy missile attacks, they were forced to evacuate. Some continued their work remotely, while others carried on from a temporary new location.

We journalists, too, are part of this national resilience. Words—and the narration of truth—are our weapons in this struggle. We will stand firm to the end. 
Long live Iran.