From the Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, this is Reveal.

I'm Nadia Hamdan, filling in for Al-Letzen.

Friday, March 20th, was the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere.

And according to the Persian calendar, it's the new year, Nauruz.

You know, my mother, for example, she never minds if I miss her birthday, but she definitely minds if I don't call her under Nauruze. Arash Azizzi says Nauruze is the biggest holiday in Iran. And that's a very sort of almost a sacred moment for Iranian. But it definitely has a quasi. I say quasi, just because it's not linked to a religion,

but it's as important as religion.

There are a lot of Nauru's traditions.

One is that you try to visit everyone.

Family, friends, at least once during the two-week holiday.

You eat food, drink tea.

Of course, as a kid, you get money, and that was the tradition in my times.

What Arash remembers are the stacks of cash.

The biggest bills had Ayatollah Khomeini's face on them.

Even though I'm not a big fan, we liked counting different how many Khomeini's we can have to have more money. And there's always this question of how much is this auntie going to give you,

or what about this uncle?

Who would give you the most?

That's always a very hot debate, right?

You'll find out who's doing well.

That's my colleague and nosy reporter, Najb Amini, trying to follow the money.

And in me and my family was an auntie, their husband was a lawyer, and we were like, wow, this is adding up.

They must be doing better.

But it's more than just gifts and money.

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