Djavadi, Abbas. "Fundamentalist Calls To Ignore Norouz Go Unheard In Iran, Afghanistan." Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, March 21, 2010, Commentary Section, http://www.rferl.org/content/Fundamentalist_Calls_To_Ignore_Norouz_Go_Unheard_In_Iran_Afghanistan/1989760.html. 

Djavadi reports that clerics in Iran and Afghanistan ruled that Navruz is un-Islamic and that it should not be celebrated.  Others believe that it is a Muslim holiday.  See Navruz.  As one commentator to the piece points out, why should people not be able to celebrate non-Islamic holidays.  Maybe the tension is that since many people in the region believe it to be a Muslim holiday (see Canfield (1993)), the clerics do not believe it can be celebrated as a secular holiday.  

Descriptors: 2010s, Afghanistan, D, e-news, holidays, interview, journalism, Navruz, post-Soviet; pluralism-textual/popular