[AUTHORIZED TRANSLATION FROM PERSIAN]

Naw-Rúz 2014

To the Bahá’ís of Iran

We convey to you, our dear brothers and sisters, and beyond you to the people of Iran, our warm and heartfelt greetings on the occasion of Naw-Rúz and the start of the soul-stirring season of spring.  We are immensely gratified at the joyful news of the eager response of the distinguished youth in that sacred land to the message we addressed to them on 29 January 2014, and at the accounts of the dynamism of the community of the Greatest Name in the Cradle of the Faith.  At the threshold of a new year, we raise our hands in gratitude to the One True God that, despite the intense persecutions and the resulting manifold privations you sustain, you tread that path which the Master held out as His ardent desire for the believers in Iran, “one and all, to be occupied day and night with that which is conducive to Iran’s abiding glory, and to exert the utmost effort and the greatest endeavour in order to refine character and manners, labour assiduously, aim for lofty goals, promote love and affection, and foster the progress and development of industry, agriculture and trade.”  In the Holy Shrines we ardently supplicate that you may be aided in the field of endeavour.

[signed:  The Universal House of Justice]