![\"iran-protest-ukraine-flight-min\"](\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/iran-protest-ukraine-flight-min.jpg\" "\\"iran-protest-ukraine-flight-min\\"")
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Sunday marked the start of the year 1400 on the Persian calendar. Over the weekend, Iranians both in their home country and throughout the world celebrated a holiday called Nowruz, which literally translates as \u201cnew day\u201d and is an outlet for far-reaching optimism about the time to come.<\/p>\n
The preceding year was defined by a coronavirus outbreak that was without question the worst in the Middle East, and one of the worst in the entire world. As a matter of fact, according to information presented by the People\u2019s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI\/MEK<\/a>), the actual Iranian death toll from Covid-19 is around four times higher<\/a> than what has been reported by the Iranian Ministry of Health, or about a quarter of a million.<\/p>\n That crisis shows little sign of abating, least of all in the wake of an edict from the regime\u2019s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei banning<\/a> the import of credible American and British-made vaccines. Tehran offered no interventions at any point during the pandemic and even went so far as cover up the earliest cases while encouraging widespread participation in public events just before the previous Nowruz. As a result, two consecutive New Year celebrations have been marred by mass suffering and death, which has only compounded the effects of perennial problems like repressive political violence and curtailment of free speech.<\/p>\n<\/div>Khamenei bans import of Covid-19 vaccines<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>![\"Khamenei](\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-youtube-lyte\/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FqkDlcSzSm0k%2F0.jpg\")