Feature: Iranians cling to hope for "gift" as Nowruz looms

In the Iranian tradition, the eve of Wednesday before Nowruz is celebrated with people jumping over bonfires and playing with firecrackers. Yet Armiri's business is not doing well.

Many people don't have spare money for even small luxuries like firecrackers, blaming sanctions for the sluggish market. Armiri hoped good talks can give people more reason to celebrate.

The talks are scheduled to end on Friday, one day before Nowruz, meaning many Iranians will spend their New Year's Eve watching Iran's nuclear negotiators, especially Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on TV.

Expectations for solving the nuclear issue and more importantly lifting the sanctions on Iran have been growing among Iranians since President Hassan Rouhani took office in 2013 and gave talks top priority.

The Rouhani government has launched many rounds of nuclear talks with the P5+1 group, namely Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany, breaking ice with an interim deal sealed in Geneva at the end of 2013. Both sides took a step back as Iran froze its nuclear project while Western powers eased sanctions.

In addition, Iran has held several rounds of bilateral talks with the United States while not long ago direct engagement with the Americans was still taboo in the Islamic republic.

A Gallup poll in November 2014 also evidenced rising hopes among Iranians as it showed 70 percent of Iranians are at least somewhat hopeful that an agreement will be eventually reached, up from 58 percent in 2013.

Saturday will be Nowruz, also the start of spring and the most important national holiday. Yet little trace of joyous celebration can be found on the streets as people anxiously wait for the results of the ongoing nuclear talks in Lausanne, Switzerland.

"These days, people are just waiting," said Mohammad Mofaser who had been sitting idly in a money exchange office with his colleague in northern Tehran for the better of the day.

Usually, the Iranian currency rial would have plummeted against the U.S. dollar and euro by this time of the year as Iranians rush to buy foreign currency to prepare for travels abroad during the long holidays of Nowruz.

But this year, people are in no hurry just in case some good news from the talks may bolster rial so that they can buy more dollars and euro with their money.

Exchange rate for the dollar has dropped from over 34,000 to around 32,000, about six percent appreciation of rial against the dollar. The Iranian currency also appreciated by 13 percent against euro in just 10 days.

"They are holding up something (in Lausanne) until the New Year. Or why is it that the talks will end exactly ahead of Nowruz, not one day early, not one day late?" said Hamid Armiri while selling firecrackers on the street.

However, the ongoing nuclear talks are less likely to yield any agreement as Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has made it clear that he is against sealing a framework deal before clinching the final one.

A framework deal may be exploited by the other party as bargain chip in negotiations over the final deal, Khamenei warned in an earlier speech. Iran and world powers are striving to establish an outline for the final deal supposed to be reached before July. The United States has insisted a political framework agreement be signed before the end of March.

Talks between Iran and the United States have achieved some progress. "Solutions in some areas are within reach. But we are still far apart in some other areas," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who has been leading Iran's negotiating team, said Monday.

As talks continue to progress, Iranian leadership showed commitment to resolving the nuclear issue. Khamenei did not forget to endorse Iran's negotiators first, calling them honest people working for the good of the country, even when condemning some U.S. senators' open letter that threatened to revoke any nuclear deal once U.S. President Barak Obama leaves office.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani also voiced optimism and support on the talks on Monday, saying a deal is very likely to happen and Iran is willing to accept further monitoring on its nuclear program.

Although a sudden breakthrough seems unrealistic, words about progress and commitment toward final deal would be enough to bring relief to Iranians who have been waiting anxiously, even to those who have grown weary and cynical about the prolonged talks.

"Just some positive comments can be enough for a gift. After all, no one wants to begin the New Year with disappointment," Mofaser said. Endit