Biden hosts Newroz reception, as he affirms US support for Iran opposition

Biden used the occasion not only to express holiday wishes, but to underscore the Iranian regime’s repression of its own people.
Joe Biden, accompanied by first lady Jill Biden, shakes hands with performer Sahba Motallebi, left, as he speaks during a Newroz celebration, White House, March 20, 2023, in Washington. (Photo: AP)
Joe Biden, accompanied by first lady Jill Biden, shakes hands with performer Sahba Motallebi, left, as he speaks during a Newroz celebration, White House, March 20, 2023, in Washington. (Photo: AP)

WASHINGTON DC, United States (Kurdistan 24) – At the White House on Monday afternoon, President Joe Biden announced that he and his wife, Jill, along with Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug, were hosting “a new national tradition”: a large event that he described as “the first Newroz reception on this scale ever held in the White House.” 

Biden used the occasion not only to express holiday wishes, but to underscore the Iranian regime’s repression of its own people.

Biden on Newroz and those who Celebrate it

Newroz “is observed by millions of people around the world,” Biden told an enthusiastic gathering, “with roots in ancient Persia.” But it is now celebrated “in the gardens of Shiraz, the mountains of Kabul and Erbil, in the shores of Baku and beyond, most of which I’ve got a chance to visit.”

Biden is, indeed, familiar with Erbil. He has visited the capital of the Kurdistan Region three times, and has been a long-standing friend of  Iraq’s Kurds and their leadership.

In late 2017, at a chance meeting at a local grocery store, Biden, then a private citizen, told this reporter that “Masoud Barzani is a good friend of mine,” and “I wished we could have done more for the Kurds.”

Read More: Joe Biden—‘Good Friend’ of Masoud Barzani—becomes America’s 46th President

This year’s Newroz celebration carried one discordant note, particularly given Biden’s openly expressed friendliness toward Iraq’s Kurds and their leadership: no representative of the Kurdistan Regional Government was invited to the event!

Newroz Reception Honors Iranian Dissidents

Monday’s reception began with a video featuring the protest song, “Baraye,” (for the sake of), written by the Iranian pop artist and songwriter, Shervin Hajipour. 

He composed Baraye in the two weeks after the Sept. 16 death of the young Kurdish woman, Zhina (Mahsa) Amini, while she was in the custody of Tehran’s so-called “morality police,” detained for not properly wearing her headscarf.

Baraye won a Grammy Award last month. The award fell into a new category, Best Song for Social Change, and it was actually Biden’s wife, Dr. Jill Biden, who announced it, describing the song as the “anthem of the Mahsa Amini protests.”

When Hajipour posted Baraye to his Instagram account in late September, it immediately went viral. Iranian authorities responded by arresting the 25 year-old singer. He is currently out of jail, on bail, but is prohibited from leaving the country, so he had to watch from Iran, as Jill Biden announced his award.

Speaking on Monday, after Hajipour’s video was shown, President Biden affirmed, “The United States stands” with the “brave women and all the citizens of Iran who are inspiring the world with their conviction and, I have to emphasize, their courage, their genuine courage.”

Biden noted the presence of Jason Rezaian, the Iranian-American journalist for The Washington Post, along with his wife, Yeganeh. In 2014, they were both arrested in Iran on trumped-up charges of espionage. She was released after three months, but he was held for a year-and-a-half in Iran’s notorious Evin prison.

“We worked very hard to bring him home, when I was Vice President,” Biden said, as he thanked the couple for attending the event.

Antony Blinken’s Newroz Greeting

Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a statement expressing similar sentiments: congratulating those who celebrate Newroz, while honoring those who have opposed the Iranian regime and denouncing their oppressors.

“I wish a happy Newroz to all those celebrating around the world,” Blinken’s Newroz message began. “I hope the new year brings you happiness, health, and prosperity.”

“Newroz is also an opportunity to reflect on the year that has passed,” he continued, and “the people of Iran have faced a brutal crackdown at the hands of the Islamic Republic.”

But “on the occasion of Newroz, we reiterate our commitment,” he affirmed. “The United States will continue to defend your human rights and to support you as you seek a brighter future.”