šļøThe Ensemble: Persian New Year Edition
In this part of the world, the year is actually 2585, and if January and February failed to deliver, you get to start your resolutions over on the first day of Spring
Itās been a rough three weeks of global chaos since the start of the Iran war, so letās begin with some good News with Suz: mercury retrograde is over, Spring has sprung, for Muslims their Ramadan fasting is finished and Punch - the most famous monkey in the world - appears to have found love, albeit unconfirmed.
Iāve watched the video probably 100 times in between on air contributions as we continue to cover the ongoing war in Iran. This week we had whatās being called our first āwar time defection.ā But there are some holes in Joe Kentās story, whose Democratic congressional challenger once said has āgood hair, but bad ideas.ā
I attended a Council on Foreign Relations session with Sebastian Gorka, Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterterrorism, who had some choice words to say about Kent. He also told me that information operations inside Iran is his top priority every day, after I informed him the White House is losing the PR war as regime propoganda strengthens both inside and outside the country.
I spoke with Times Radio to discuss the US politicial fallout and the impact of another assassination of a high level Iranian regime official, Ali Larijani - the former Speaker of Parliament of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Coincidentally, Larijaniās daughter was an employee at my alma mater, Emory University.
A former classmate who worked with her called her a ālovely personā and said she āwas quiet but intelligent and so nice, great with her patients. She didnāt use her maiden name, only her married name.ā
āItās hard to separate the person we worked with to who she is attached to,ā she said. āItās chilling to know that I was working with someone who is a degree separated from this man and this regime.ā
Meanwhile, the regime has executed a Swedish citizen and kicked off Nowruz (Persian New Year) and Eid (end of Ramadan) celerbations by hanging three protestors including a teenage star wrestler. But despite every effort to crush the publicās spirit rule by the politics of sadness, the people persist - in rebellion, by celebrating the year 2585. This date refers to the imperial calendar, which starts from the founding of the Persian Empire by Cyrus the Great, rather than the Islamic Hijri calendar (which is 1405). So naturally, every year the regime tries to crack down on celebrations because theyāre rooted in Persian Zoroastrian culture rather than Islam.
The strength and resilience of the Iranian people never ceases to amaze me, especially the women. This week on News with Suz IG live we spoke with Maryam Mehrtash about media literacy and how her grandmother inspired her work. Hers is an astonishing story of being imprisoned for four years shortly after the Islamic Revolution of 1979, tortured and raped and ultimately marrying a prison guard to secure her release. You can catch out conversation here:
In my former stomping grounds of Dubai, the city is under attack in the skies and in the press. The British tabloids in particular are drowning in their own haterade trying to kill the city that is home to so many of their citizens. But the majority of my friends have stayed put, although the war has impacted our own arrangements as I scrambled to pull together materials for a new year āsofrehā spread in America with my belongings stuck in the UAE.
I never really felt like an exiled Iranian until I lived in Dubai. There is something especially poignant about being in exile when youāre physically so close to your ancestral home. I would sit on the beach and look out across the Persian Gulf, knowing my fatherās homeland was only the distance of a Northeast Corridor Acela trip. But it might as well have been on the moon. I couldnāt - and canāt - go back not because they wouldnāt let me in, but as a dual-national Iranian-American journalist, they might very well never let me out again.
So on Nowruz, to celebrate Persian New Year, my own personal protest was to put on Persian music blasting in my apartment overlooking the marina and dancing - flinging my hair, singing at the top of my lungs as an affront to the oppression and suppression of joy the Islamic Republic inflicts.
I did the same today - except admittedly most of the day, tears were streaming down my face as I danced to U2ās new protest album track āSong of the Futureā honoring 16-year-old Sarina Esmailzadeh, an Iranian schoolgirl who died after being beaten by security forces during the 2022 Women, Life, Freedom protests. It highlights her spirit and resistance as a symbol of hope and future.
This year, H2H is dedicated to the spirit of Sarina. And since the Academy forgot to honor these brave souls at the Oscars on Sunday, our mission this year is to help Hollywood speak up with our āThat Nightā documentary.
The Shamrock Shake
No, weāre not talking about McDonalds, writes Anastasia OāReilly from Dublin. As Taoiseach MicheĆ”l Martin touched down in Washington D.C to shake hands with President Donald Trump, the mission was clear: solidify trade ahead of Irelandās 2026 EU Presidency and celebrate the US 250th Anniversary. But while the policy-makers discussed market diversification, the real power move was happening on the wardrobe front.
In Dublin, the St Patrickās Day festival saw half a million people lining the streets as Grand Marshal Vogue Williams blended heritage with high-octane glamour. Sporting a look that championed Irish creativity, Williams led a 3,000-strong procession of pageantry and sustainable floats made by creators including Macnas, Bui Bolg and Spraoi. A sea of green, white and orange flooded the streets with significant numbers of American, British, French and Spanish tourists.
But the spectacle didnāt stop at Irelandās borders. Under Tourism Irelandās Global Greening initiative, over 600 landmarks in 50 countries turned a vibrant emerald. From the Sydney Opera House to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the world literally wore Irelandās national color. These quirky additions, like the Bergisel Ski Jump in Austria, prove that Irelandās soft power is as evergreen as its hills. In 2026, Ireland didnāt just show up; it showed out, proving that in international relations, the right cut of cloth can open every door.
Dateline: Gabon
I have travelled to the one part of the world that doesnāt seem to be obsessed with the war in the Middle East and President Trump, writes H2Hās Jamie Angus.
Welcome to Libreville, in Gabon - on the central African coast, bang on the equator and just about far enough away from the rest of the world to feel cut off from the main dramas driving the news cycl.e.
American influence in the region is a double edged sword - many African counttries struggle with the legacy of the Cold War on the continent, where US and Russian interference broadly did not benefit the development of strong economies and stable democracies. But that aside, the US is still very much one of two major players, along with the Chinese, who are able to finance large African infrastructure and industry projects, and thatās not going to change any time soon.
Like other countries in the region, Gabonās economy has been built around natural resources - oil, minerals and forestry, so while the US tarrif war is of interest, their exposure to the US export market is not material. Instead expansion here will be about tourism, and technology - the new Government, elected after the former leader Ali Bongo was deposed in a military coup in 2023, is looking to diversify the economy and invest in infrastructure projects which will improve prospects for young people.
So there remain parts of the world where life goes on - thereās an interest in whatās happening in the Gulf and in the US, but of course for most here life is focused on the regional economy, where economic growth in Central and West Africa is the key issue. And I might add - year round good weather, beaches and eco-tourism.