President Barack Obama addresses the Iranian people annually on the Persian New Year, known as Nowruz. "Young and old; men and women; rich and poor – the Iranian people have been persecuted," he said on 20 March 2011. "Hundreds of prisoners of conscience are in jail. The innocent have gone missing. Journalists have been silenced. Women tortured. Children sentenced to death. The world has watched these unjust actions with alarm. We have seen...the Bahai community and Sufi Muslims punished for their faith..."