persian-nowruzOnce again Nowruz--the ancient Persian Festival of the New Year--is here. Nowruz is the celebration of renewal and regeneration of life. Nowruz is the bearer of glad tidings for a better year ahead for all of humankind. It is in the spirit of Nowruz that Persians, as well as many other ethnic co-celebrators, greet one another with good wishes and extend a hand of friendship to all. It is in the spirit of Nowruz that I offer my sincere best wishes to everyone, with particular humility to those magnificent prisoners of conscience who are languishing in the dungeons of the Islamic Republic of Iran instead of celebrating the occasion in the bosom of their families and their loved-ones.