According to The Iran Project, yesterday (March 30), IRIB News Agency announced that by the order of the interior minister, all parks and recreational areas of the country are shut down on Nature Day, due to its overlap with the holy month of Ramadan. But this news was denied.
The Minister of the Interior Ahmad Vahidi wrote in a tweet that no order has been issued by the ministry regarding parks shutdown while warning about the enemy's plot.
The 13th day of Farvardin which falls on March 31 this year has been named as Sizdah Be-Dar or Nature Day in Iranian culture, which is an ancient ritual.
Iranian people mark the 13th day of the Persian New Year or Nowruz, leaving their houses to picnic in parks and countryside all over the world, but this year due to its concurrent with Ramadan it became controversial somehow.
Where did the story of Nature Day closure begin?
The story started when the IRIB NewsAagency wrote, "The interior ministry declared that given the arrival of Nature Day and its coincidence with the holy month of Ramadan and the anniversary of the martyrdom of first Shia Imam, Imam Ali (PBUH), on Nature Day all parks are closed like previous years that coincided with the holy month of Ramadan. And it will be reopened one hour before Maghreb call to prayer."
It was after this news that some provincial media announced the order of the governors regarding the Nature Day closure in different provinces of the country.
The Hamedan governor announced the closure of the city's parks in a news release, and this news was published by Khabaronline News Agency, the news image can be seen below:
The governor of Qazvin also announced the closure of Hamedan parks on Nature Day, and this news was published by the website of the Young Journalists Club, the image of which is as follows:
The governor of Zanjan declared the closure of parks, and this news was published by the IRNA news agency, the below image shows the news:
Iran interior minister dismisses closure of parks on Nature Day
Following the publication of the news of the closure of the parks based on the directive of the Ministry of Interior by the media, and then governors' shutdown orders, the interior ministry rejected the closure news.
Ahmad Vahidi, Iran's interior minister, wrote in a tweet on X (formerly known as Twitter):
'The wise people of Iran have always preserved the sanctity of the holy month of Ramadan. Nowruz and Islamic tradition have a long-standing connection. In the ministry, no decision has been taken to close parks. We must be careful about the enemy's plot."
Besides, Deputy Interior Minister of Security and Law Enforcement Majid Mirahmadi dismissed the closure news and said, "Announcements are published and made public by the Ministry of Interior, and there have been no announcements in this regard."
In this way, the closure of parks on Nature Day was denied, however, it is not clear how this news was communicated to the governors who also communicated it.
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