Iranians flock Dubai to celebrate New Year

During the Iranian New Year celebration called Nowrouz, flights from Iran to Dubai are fully booked.

Iranians, who flock to the city during the New Year holiday, find more of a free terrain to celebrate the occasion as exiled Iranian singers who are forbidden to perform in Iran come from abroad to entertain in Dubai.

One of Iran’s diva Googoosh and Iranian pop singer Andy, both are in self-imposed exile in Los Angeles, another city with a large Iranian population, are not permitted to perform in the Islamic Republic of Iran. For them, the closest city to home is Dubai.

According to the UAE-based Gulf News that around as many as 70 percent of the tens of thousands of audiences the exiled Iranian celebrities attract are Iranians who fly to Dubai specifically for the holiday, and not residents.

However, even the occasion might come under fire and be banned by the Iranian strict Islamic regime, as there are attempts to curb the celebration in Iran. Nowrouz has its roots in Zoroastrianism, a pre-Islam Iranian religion.

"Dubai's status as a haven for Iranians has also led to the rise of Persian language television channels based in the city as well as event management and public relations companies targeting Persian speakers", Gulf News said.