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Agence France-Presse

Three people were killed and nearly 1,900 injured celebrating Iran’s traditional fire festival in the run-up to this weekend’s Persian New Year, emergency services said on Wednesday.
One of the deaths came in Tehran, despite an overnight ban on gatherings imposed in a bid to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
The Chaharshanbe Suri celebrations, during which participants jump over bonfires to purify themselves and ward off evil spirits, are part of Iran’s pre-Islamic heritage and generally frowned on by the Shiite clerical establishment.

But they are popular with young people, many of whom who make their own fireworks for the event.
“Three people died during the festival, one of them in the capital,” emergency services spokesman Mojtaba Khaledi said. Another 1,894 people were injured, most of them men, Khaledi said.
Six more people were killed in the run-up to the event, he added, seemingly referring to incidents in which people were handling explosives to make their own fireworks.

Last year, several provinces imposed bans on fire festival celebrations as Iran battled a first wave of coronavirus infections.
This year Tehran police banned gatherings, but the ban was widely breached as gaggles of people assembled in various parts of the city to light bonfires and set off firecrackers.
“In the current situation where everyone is stressed and anxious because of the coronavirus, [celebrating] is really not at all bad,” said a 38-year-old housewife sitting by one of the bonfires, who gave her name only as Charareh. “Personally, I came here tonight to get rid of all the stress,” she said.


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Iran fire festival celebrations lead to three deaths, hundreds of injuries

A man jumps over a bonfire as part of Chaharshanbe Suri celebrations in Tehran. Photo: Xinhua

An Iranian girl aims fireworks in Tehran on March 16, 2021 during the Wednesday Fire feast, or Chaharshanbeh Soori, held annually on the last Wednesday eve before the Spring holiday of Noruz. - The Iranian new year that begins on March 20 coincides with the first day of spring during which locals revive the Zoroastrian celebration of lighting a fire and dancing around the flame. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)

epa09078418 Iranians take part during the traditional fire feasts (Charshanbeh Suri), in Tehran, Iran, 16 March 2021, which is annually held on the last Wednesday eve before the Persian New Year (Nowruz) which starts on 21 March, also marking the beginning of spring. The Persian New Year which has been celebrated for at least three thousand years, is the most revered celebration in the greater Persian world, which includes the countries of Iran, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and portions of western China and northern Iraq. EPA-EFE/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH

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The Chaharshanbe Suri celebrations involve participants jumping over bonfires to purify themselves and ward off evil spirits
One of the deaths came in Tehran, despite an overnight ban on gatherings imposed in a bid to stem the spread of the coronavirus



The Chaharshanbe Suri celebrations, during which participants jump over bonfires to purify themselves and ward off evil spirits, are part of Iran’s pre-Islamic heritage.


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Coronavirus pandemic