Iran International
Millions of Iranian families will celebrate the ancient Winter Solstice festival on Friday evening, though many have scaled back their budgets for the occasion, with businesses reporting a notable drop in sales.
Yalda Night, or Shab-e Chelleh, marks the longest night of the year and is one of the most significant events on the Iranian calendar. Similar to Nowruz, the celebration of the Spring Equinox and the Iranian New Year, Yalda's origins trace back to at least the Achaemenid era (circa 500 BC). The word "Yalda," however, is derived from ancient Syriac and means "birthday."
The celebration of Yalda, like Christmas, is an important family event celebrated with special foods, fruits such as watermelons and pomegranates, nuts and dried fruits, candles, poetry reading, games, and song and dance.
To ancient Iranians, the night of the Winter Solstice was the eve of the birth of the God of light and love, Mithra. On this night, they believed, Light defeated the powers of Darkness, and the sun gained its power again to make days longer and bring about the rebirth of nature at Spring Equinox.
President Masoud Pezeshkian who has been on a visit to Cairo, sent a special message to Iranians on Thursday to congratulate for Yalda. “We Iranians believe that Yalda will bring light [after long days of darkness]," he wrote in his message.
Alireza Arzani, an official with Iran's Chamber of Guilds, stated Wednesday that while the prices of food and items essential for Yalda celebrations have remained relatively stable compared to last year, people's purchasing power has dropped by around 50% during the same period, leaving many businesses struggling.
Arzani, representing nut and dried fruit retailers at the Chamber of Guilds, explained that declining demand has compelled retailers to reduce profit margins and lower prices in an effort to clear stock typically sold during this season.
Tejarat News, an economic newspaper, estimates that a family of four would need to spend approximately 25 million rials (around $30) for a modest Yalda spread this year. This amount represents 20-25% of the average monthly income for most Iranian workers and civil servants.
Iran's hardline Shiite clerical establishment frowns upon pre-Islamic celebrations, viewing them as remnants of paganism. However, the deep-rooted traditions of the Iranian people have largely thwarted their efforts over the past four decades to diminish the significance of ancient festivals in favor of Islamic ones.
Most Iranians find no contradiction in celebrating both ancient festivals and Islamic occasions. Each year, they send tens of millions of text messages to mark the Winter Solstice, much like they do during Nowruz. Similarly, a minority of devout individuals exchange greetings on religious occasions, such as the birthdays of Prophet Muhammad and the first Shiite Imam, Ali ibn Abi Talib.
In 2023, Iran's Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution (SCCR) renamed some calendar events including Yalda which they designated as the "Day of Promotion of the Culture of Hosting and Connecting with Relatives”.
Many of the members of SCCR are appointees of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The Council is mandated with ensuring that non-Islamic cultural influences and ideologies are defused, and education and culture comply with values prescribed by the religious establishment and the state.
The public reacted very negatively to the SCCR’s move. In defiance of what they saw as an attempt to obliterate the country’s pre-Islamic past, many vowed to celebrate the festival with even more vigor. Social media users also posted numerous jokes about the long name proposed for the ancient festival.
The highly negative reaction forced the authorities to backtrack. The state-run television which has a monopoly on broadcasting, and the hardline dominated Tehran municipality, even tried to show an unprecedented interest in honoring Yalda with special programs and decorations installed around Tehran by the municipality. The same trend has continued this year.
Just as Iran had originally requested Russia transport its units to Syria to back now ousted President Bashar al-Assad, Putin said in remarks carried by state media, Tehran again sought Moscow's aid to evacuate the soldiers.
"If earlier, for example, our Iranian friends asked us to help them transport their units to Syrian territory, now they asked us to withdraw them from there," Putin said. "We took 4,000 Iranian fighters to Tehran from the Hmeimim base. Some of the so-called pro-Iranian units left without a fight for Lebanon, some for Iraq."
But a senior commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards swiftly denied the claim later on Thursday, marking a rare public disagreement between the two partners in arms.
"A large number of Iranians have been living in Syria for a long time, and Russia relocated most of them to Iran," said Mohammad Jafar Asadi, deputy commander of the Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters, a construction giant.
"These were not Iran's advisory forces; we withdrew our advisory forces from Syria ourselves," he added. "We do not allow Russia to relocate our military forces."
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a transnational military organization that lies at the heart of Iran's ruling establishment, has been a key ally of Russia in Syria and Ukraine.
Moscow has launched hundreds of IRGC-provided drones at Kyiv's forces while Iranian and Russian troops together fought the Islamist rebels now running Syria after they seized Damascus from President Bashar al-Assad.
Staying in Syria
Putin suggested Russia's decades-old military presence was not set to be upended by Syria's upheaval, even as Iran appeared to have been decisively ejected.
“We maintain contact with all groupings in Syria and all countries in the region. They all say that it would be better if we kept our bases there,” Putin said in his first public comments on the subject.
Putin also said he had not yet met with former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since his overthrow and subsequent flight to Moscow earlier this month but noted that he planned to do so.
Russia, which intervened in Syria in 2015 and shifted the course of the civil war in Assad's favor, had also informed other countries that they could use its air and naval base to deliver humanitarian aid to Syria, he said.
"You want to portray everything that is happening in Syria as some kind of failure, a defeat for Russia. I assure you, it is not. And I'll tell you why. We came to Syria 10 years ago to prevent a terrorist enclave from being created there," said Putin.
"On the whole, we have achieved our goal. It is not for nothing that today many European countries and the United States want to establish relations with them (Syria's new rulers). If they are terrorist organisations, why are you (the West) going there? So that means they have changed."
His comments come as European Union (EU) nations seek assurances from Syria's new leaders that they will distance themselves from Russia and Iran and work toward a peaceful future for the country after years of civil war.
“Russia and Iran are not your friends, (and) are not helping you if you are in trouble. They left Assad’s regime, and that is a very clear message showing that their hands are full elsewhere and they are weakened,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Monday, addressing Syria’s new leaders.