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German Ambassador to Tehran Michael Klor-Berchtold has grabbed the headlines in Iran after making moves that seemed to be not much typical of a foreign envoy to the Islamic Republic.

People in Ardeh village of Rezvanshahr County, northern Iran, annually cook Zarrineh, a traditional type of pastry indigenous to Gilan Province, and a special variation of halva to celebrate the arrival of spring and the Persian New Year.

With its long history dating back to thousands of years ago, the city of Yazd in central Iran has grabbed the attentions of domestic and foreign tourists as an intangible cultural heritage with unique rituals and traditions, especially when the Persian New Year arrives.

At the end of the cold season, people in the Hamadan Province gather together to conduct traditional rituals to usher in the promise of spring and the new Iranian year,Nowruz.

Samanu, one of the seven items in the Haft-Seen table of Iranian people during Nowruz, is a sweet paste whose cooking is traced back to the pre-Islamic Persia.

Marmeh or Madermeh, one of the most important rituals in Iran’s northern province of Mazandaran, is a old tradition that dates back to hundreds of years ago.

Every year, a few days before the beginning of the New Persian Year, traditional singers known as Nowruz Khans herald the arrival of spring in the villages of northern Iran by singing and playing their instruments.

People in Kanduleh village in Kermanshah province, Western Iran, annually attend a traditional ceremony called “Sound of Spring’s Footstep” ahead of the Persian New Year or Nowruz.

Spring has almost arrived, and Iranians have prepared themselves for and are counting down to the Persian New Year when they will celebrate the traditional Nowruz festival.

A festival of local and traditional games of Iran’s North Khorasan Province was recently held in the north-eastern city of Bojnourd.