Iran is a huge country and much, much more sophisticated than most people imagine... It certainly has the potential to be at least the way Turkey is to most Americans.

It's a tradition in Islamic society to issue pardons at the end of Ramadan.

If you are an [American] politician it's very hard to imagine. "Now we are going to treat these guys as our equals? That's ridiculous. What have they ever done to deserve that?"

Americans tend not to distinguish between political rhetoric and real intentions, which can lead to great misunderstanding.

There's a lack of knowledge about Iran and the Iranian people.

The thing about Iran is there are many political factions and it's not quite the dictatorial, authoritarian state with one person always making every single decision.

The wrong Democratic reaction to a stupid Republican utterance is to play hurt.

I was born in Iran, left at a very young age - less than a year old - and grew up and was educated in the West.

I mean, we do believe in due process in America. I thought we did.

I know that my cell phone in Iran... is bugged, and they listen in, and my emails, I'm sure, are monitored inside Iran. They have my email address; it's not like they can't snoop on it.

Do the forgiveness and carry on going forward. Leave the worrying to the other person. Eat what is on your plate and leave the rest to them.

Any sympathy won for Aileen Wuornos based on a lie is not sympathy at all. The question is, can we have sympathy for the circumstances of someone's life? That's what I was interested in.

I'm afraid to answer that. I've heard that when I speak, it makes American women wish to strike me with umbrellas.

A youthful age is desirable, but aged youth is troublesome and grievous.

It's very important for me to be distinguished in my own home.

Most human behavior is controlled by images. Image is a factor in how people look at themselves and what they use to reflect themselves. The control of images is a major factor in world power.

I try to do different roles and try to immerse myself deeply and see what they need to be that's different than the last one.

I think the leaders inevitably express the people they are leading.

A magazine is so much more beautiful than what's online.

That's what I mean by radical truth. I mean accepting reality.