PHOTO GALLERY:The Persian New Year of Nowruz

Iraqi Kurds holding lit torches walk up a mountain during a procession to celebrate their Nowruz, the Persian New Year, in Akra, Iraq, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Syrian Kurds gather to celebrate their Nowruz, Kurdish New Year, in Qamishli, northeastern Syria, Friday March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Baderkhan Ahmad)

A child holds a flag showing Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan as he has his picture taken during Nowruz celebrations, in Amuda, Hasaka region, northeastern Syria, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Baderkhan Ahmad)

Iraqi Kurds walk up a mountain during a procession to celebrate their Nowruz, the Persian New Year, Akra, in Iraq’s northern autonomous Kurdish region, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Iraqi Kurds celebrate Nowruz, the Persian New Year, in Akra, Iraq, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Syrian Kurds holding lit torches celebrate their Nowruz, the Kurdish New Year in Amuda, Hasaka region, northeastern Syria, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Baderkhan Ahmad)

Shiite Muslim women pray on the other side of a curtain at the shrine of Peer Syed Mehndi on Nowruz, Persian New Year, in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

Syrian Kurds celebrate their Nowruz, Kurdish New Year in Amuda, Hasaka region, northeastern Syria, Thursday March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Baderkhan Ahmad)

Syrian Kurdish women, some of them wearing traditional clothing, gather to celebrate their Nowruz, Kurdish New Year, in Qamishli, northeastern Syria, Friday March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Baderkhan Ahmad)

Iraqi Kurds holding lit torches walk up a mountain during a procession to celebrate their Nowruz, the Persian New Year, in Akra, Iraq, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Men store torches to be used for the Persian New Year or Nowruz celebrations, in Akra, in Iraq’s northern autonomous Kurdish region, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

An Iranian man jumps over a firework celebrating Chaharshanbe Souri, or Wednesday Feast, an ancient Festival of Fire on the eve of the last Wednesday of the Persian year, in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. Iranians celebrate their new year, or Nowruz, with arrival of the spring. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Syrian Kurdish women, most of them wearing traditional clothing, gather to celebrate their Nowruz, Kurdish New Year, in Qamishli, northeastern Syria, Friday March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Baderkhan Ahmad)

Iraqi Kurds holding lit torches walk up a mountain during a procession to celebrate their Nowruz, the Persian New Year, Akra, in Iraq’s northern autonomous Kurdish region, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)