The Most Important Speech of the Year in Iran: Hostile to the West, No Concessions ...
(WorldNews Iran)

The oration delivered by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Nowruz, the first day of the Persian new year as well as the vernal equinox, carries more significance than any other. This year’s speech was strikingly different from last year’s in that it focused on foreign policy, was belligerent to the West, and offered little hope about the country’s economic suffering. By contrast, the 2018 address mostly entailed a recounting of the socioeconomic and other domestic accomplishments of the Islamic Republic. Background on the Nowruz Addresses Clerical orthodoxy has long been hostile to the Nowruz festival, with its undeniable Zoroastrian character. The annual address...