Iran famous quotes
Last updated: Sep 5, 2024
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I think I really produce my best work in Iran.
-- Abbas Kiarostami -
If you are a businessman or a politician in Iran, you can get a visa as quickly as you ask for it.
-- Abbas Kiarostami -
The day we run out of petrol is the day Iran will be free.
-- Abbas Kiarostami -
Through Hamas, Iran has been able to buy itself a seat on the table in talking about the Palestinian issue. And, as a result, through Hamas it does play a role in the issue of the Palestinians, as strange as that should sound.
-- Abdallah II -
Passing a tough resolution or threatening Iran will not bring about the desired outcome.
-- Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani -
Iran is determined to use peaceful nuclear technology and no intimidation or threat can make us give it up.
-- Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani -
When al-Qaeda was on the run from Afghanistan crossing through Iran, some were arrested and they are imprisoned. Some of them are charged with some actions in Iran.
-- Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani -
We did not treat the Americans badly. They left Iran in a relaxed mood. The embassy was active here after the revolution. We didn't have any problem with them. They started it.
-- Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani -
Prior to his takeover of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini was camping near Paris, giving daily news conferences to a fawning international press corps without a murmur of complaint to France from the United States about the disaster it was coddling in the incredibly naive liberal belief that this extremist cleric would be an improvement over the Shah.
-- Alexander Haig -
Syria is a terrorist state by any definition and is so classified by the State Department. I happen to think Iran is too. Iraq, Iran, Syria, they're all involved.
-- Alexander Haig -
When Turkey buys Iranian oil, we pay for it in Turkish lira... However, it is not possible for Iran to take that money as dollars into its own country due to international restrictions, the U.S.A.s sanctions. Therefore, when Iran cannot take this money back as currency, they withdraw Turkish lira and buy gold from our market.
-- Ali Babacan -
But all should know that the people's participation in the elections will take the country forward ... an election full of excitement will be a major blow to the enemy.
-- Ali Khamenei -
In order to threaten Iran, you [America] say that you can secure the energy flow in the region. You are wrong. Beware that if you make the slightest mistake over Iran, the energy flow through this region will be seriously endangered. You will never be capable of providing energy security in this region. You are not capable and you should know this.
-- Ali Khamenei -
It is the mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to erase Israel from the map of the region.
-- Ali Khamenei -
Iran's stance has always been clear on this ugly phenomenon (Israel). We have repeatedly said that this cancerous tumor of a state should be removed from the region... No one will allow a bunch of thugs, lechers and outcasts from London, America and Moscow to rule over the Palestinians.
-- Ali Khamenei -
If the nuclear dossier is referred to the U. N. Security Council, Iran will have to resume uranium enrichment.
-- Ali Larijani -
Iran welcomes dialogue with any other states. I wrote a letter to the three European states inviting them to resume talks, but, they cancelled it. They had thought that Iran would no longer resume talks with them.
-- Ali Larijani -
Repeatedly and frankly we have announced that in Irans national security doctrine there is no room for atomic and chemical weapons as we consider them against Islamic laws. Irans Supreme Leader (Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei) in this connection had issued a decree that mass destruction weapons are prohibited by the Muslim religion. [. . .] Therefore we support the idea of a Middle East free from weapons of mass destruction[.]
-- Ali Larijani -
The Russian proposal over Iran's uranium enrichment program is considerable, but it has some problems and ambiguities to be clarified in future talks.
-- Ali Larijani -
Reporting Iran's dossier to the UN Security Council will be unconstructive and the end of diplomacy.
-- Ali Larijani -
Iran's continued pursuit of nuclear weapons, support for international terrorist organizations, and abhorrent human rights practices pose one of the greatest threats to global security.
-- Allyson Schwartz -
Iran also has an extensive missile development programme. Iranian officials declare that the range of their modified Shahab-3 missiles is 2,000km, putting allied countries such as Turkey, Greece, Romania, and Bulgaria within reach.
-- Anders Fogh Rasmussen -
But Iran has gone far beyond what is necessary for a purely civilian programme. It has concealed several nuclear facilities from the International Atomic Energy Agency, played hide-and-seek with the international community, and rejected all offers of co-operation from the U.S., the EU, and others.
-- Anders Fogh Rasmussen -
What Iran wants and what North Korea wants is respect.
-- Andrew Young -
I just wish we knew a little less about his urethra and a little more about his arms sales to Iran.
-- Andy Rooney -
Even if corners were cut, (Iran-Contra) was a brilliant scheme. There is no possibility that anyone in any Democratic administration would have gone to such lengths to fund anti-Communist forces. When Democrats scheme from the White House, it's to cover up the President's affair with an intern. When Republicans scheme, it's to support embattled anti-Communist freedom fighters sold out by the Democrats.
-- Ann Coulter -
If we had allowed things to drift, everything would have gone from bad to worse. Nasser would have become a kind of Moslem Mussolini, and our friends in Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and even Iran would gradually have been brought down. His efforts would have spread westwards, and Libya and North Africa would have been brought under his control.
-- Anthony Eden -
Close to 80 percent of all terrorist activity in Samaria was directed and financed either by Hizbullah or the Iranians. Iran continues to increase its involvement in terror attacks inside Israel, particularly through a small but radical minority of Israeli Arabs which Iran supports and directs.
-- Ariel Sharon -
We have evidence that Iran makes a reactor to possess nuclear weapons.
-- Ariel Sharon -
Israel has many hopes, and faces extreme dangers. The most prominent danger is Iran, which is making every effort to acquire nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, and establishing an enormous terror network together with Syria in Lebanon.
-- Ariel Sharon -
What Ottawa and Washington used to think about Turkey or Iran was not very important because we really didn't think much about either, but now what we think about them is extremely important - to ourselves and to many other peoples.
-- Arthur Hays Sulzberger -
Each person makes their own choice, but my spirit is meant to stay in Iran, especially with the work that I do, and with the emotional connection I have with the country - with all its difficulties, this is why I stay.
-- Asghar Farhadi -
There are those who simply want to live their lives, and feel they cannot live the way they want to in Iran. Others are ideologically motivated: They will stay no matter what and try to change things.
-- Asghar Farhadi -
The fact is I'm not making a film in order to draw pictures or make images about Iran.
-- Asghar Farhadi -
It's very difficult to talk about religion in Iran because religion has gotten so mixed up with politics.
-- Asghar Farhadi -
Unfortunately for governments like that of Iran, when they forbid something, people become more interested.
-- Azar Nafisi -
Those in the west who dismiss the repressiveness of laws against women in countries like Iran, no matter how benign their intentions, present a condescending view not just of the religion but also of women living in Muslim majority countries, as if the desire for choice and happiness is the monopoly of women in the west.
-- Azar Nafisi -
The stories from Iran's present and past are reminders that freedom, democracy and human rights, or fundamentalism, fascism and terrorism are not geographically and culturally determined, but universal.
-- Azar Nafisi -
When I first left Iran at the age of 13, Iran had become such a shining star - it was the point to which all my desires and dreams returned.
-- Azar Nafisi -
Khatami is a symptom and not the cause of change in Iran.
-- Azar Nafisi -
I finally returned to Iran in 1979, when I got my degree in English and American literature, and stayed for 18 years in the Islamic republic.
-- Azar Nafisi -
For more than 30 years the Islamic regime and its apologists have tried to dismiss women's struggle in Iran as part of a western ploy.
-- Azar Nafisi -
After the rigged Iranian presidential elections in 2009, the Islamic regime attacked the 'humanities' as the main source of protests, the most effective tool used by the West, especially America, to corrupt and incite Iranian youth, and finally closed down all the Humanities departments in Iran's universities.
-- Azar Nafisi -
Im free - but Im also not free because there are millions of young people living in Iran. A filmmaker can only do a little.
-- Bahman Ghobadi -
The other thing is going to be me being able to show not just the American people or the Israeli people but the world that, in fact, we have mechanisms in place that will prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon.
-- Barack Obama -
Iran has made vile comments, anti-Semitic comments, comments about the destruction of Israel. It is precisely for that reason that even before I became president, I said Iran could not have a nuclear weapon.
-- Barack Obama -
Can any of us refute the wisdom of Madison and the other framers? Can anyone look at the carnage in Iran, the bloodshed in Northern Ireland or the bombs bursting in Lebanon and yet question the dangers of injecting religious issues into the affairs of state?
-- Barry Goldwater -
I want to thank my wife who I don't normally usually associate with Iran. I want to thank you for working on our marriage for 10 Christmases. It's good. It is work, but it's the best kind of work, and there's no one I'd rather work with!
-- Ben Affleck -
If Iran wants to be treated like a normal country, let it act like a normal country.
-- Benjamin Netanyahu -
Those in the international community that refuse to put red lines before Iran don't have a moral right to place a red light before Israel.
-- Benjamin Netanyahu -
Don't be fooled. The battle between Iran and ISIS doesn't turn Iran into a friend of America.
-- Benjamin Netanyahu -
The Cold War philosophy of Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD), which prevented the former Soviet Union and the United States from using the nuclear weapons they had targeted at each other, would not apply to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Iran. For him (Ahmadinejad), Mutual Assured Destruction is not a deterrent, it is an inducement.
-- Bernard Lewis -
For the first time since 1979, we are talking to the Islamic Republic of Iran. Obama says talking to him is probably pointless, but it's a hell of a relief from Mitch McConnell.
-- Bill Maher -
Kazemi has to understand that nobody is going to tell him he has to go back to Iran if he misses a shot.
-- Bill Walton -
We will stop Iran from becoming a nuclear power. We will stop that nuclear arms race that could happen in the Middle East. We will also make that Putin knows we have brigades in eastern Europe to make sure we deter his aggression. Peace through strength works.
-- Bobby Jindal -
If we are really anxious not to have nuclear weapons in Iran, the first thing is to call an international conference on abolishing all nuclear weapons, including Israeli nuclear weapons.
-- Bruce Kent -
Surely something must be terribly wrong with a man who seems to be far more concerned with Jews building houses in Israel than with Muslims building a nuclear bomb in Iran.
-- Burt Prelutsky -
In Tehran, the 444 days of the Iran Hostage Crisis was the first world event in which you could literally have live events beamed into your living room. Now, every world event plays out on its own, and as a media event.
-- Chris Terrio -
In emerging democracies like Russia, in authoritarian states like Iran or even Yugoslavia, journalists play a vital role in civil society. In fact, they form the very basis of those new democracies and civil societies.
-- Christiane Amanpour -
In Iran the whole reform and democracy movement has been based on the emerging free press.
-- Christiane Amanpour -
Who are your favourite heroines in real life? The women of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Iran who risk their lives and their beauty to defy the foulness of theocracy. Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Azar Nafisi as their ideal feminine model.
-- Christopher Hitchens -
I have said many times that Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism,
-- Chuck Hagel -
Iran can and should be a responsible state, not the leading state sponsor of terror.
-- Condoleezza Rice -
There are people, particularly in the United States with which I am most familiar, who would say how ironic that Tehran would be the sponsor of an anti-terrorism conference, because there are people who say that Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism.
-- Cynthia McKinney -
It is urgent to prevent new U.S. aggression. The time is now for the world to say 'no' to U.S. threats of air attack against Iran, and to the very notion of a nuclear first-use 'option' by America or any other nation.
-- Daniel Ellsberg -
The world should contemplate a nuclear weapons-armed Iran with the greatest of concern.
-- Daniel Fried -
We all know Reagan's legacy, from the Iran-Contra affair to the funding of the Nicaraguan military in which over 200,000 people died. The groundwork for the move steadily to the right happened with the Reagan administration. People want to elevate him to some mythic level; they have their own reason for doing that.
-- Danny Glover -
Reagan survived the Iran-Contra scandal because the elements of it that were illegal (aiding anti-communist Nicaraguans) were popular and the things that were unpopular (arming the Iranians) were quite legal.
-- David Frum -
Well, I think the U.S. has been careful not to go too far in attacking Iran's allies, in particular in attacking Hezbollah forces in Syria, which have been propping up the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
-- David Ignatius -
But the U.S. has to be careful. If our strategy depends on Sunnis doing the fighting to clear Mosul and Ramadi - and, as near as I can tell, that is the strategy - then you have to be careful that Sunnis don't perceive the U.S. to be operating arm in arm with Iran or with Iranian-backed Shiite militias that Abadi - Prime Minister Abadi is using in Iraq, so that, in effect, we're fronting for Iran.
-- David Ignatius -
I believe, that there is at least de facto cooperation between United States and Iran, at least in Iraq.
-- David Ignatius -
Kay told CNN he is worried because he's hearing some of the same signals about Iran and its nuclear program that were heard as the Bush administration made its case for the war in Iraq. 'It's déjà vu all over again,' Kay said.
-- David Kay -
Iran, as we have already discussed, has carried out very, very harmful activities inside Iraq. Funding, trainings, arming and, in some cases, even directing the activities of the special groups associated with the Jaish al-Mahdi and the Sadr Militia.
-- David Petraeus -
The fact is that Iran doesn't want to see the Taliban come back any more than do most Afghan citizens.
-- David Petraeus -
From the prophets' dreams of the time when nations would beat their swords into plowshares to today's aspirations of a nuclear-weapons-free world, we have sought to avoid armed conflict and not yield to despair in the search for universal peace. The nuclear threats from Iran, North Korea, and terrorists can only be overcome through international cooperation. We call upon Congressional leaders and those worldwide to join together to ensure the fulfillment of these long-overdue initiatives and the achievement of a safer future without nuclear weapons.
-- David Saperstein -
I wouldn't discount the possibility that the Israelis would act if they came to the conclusion that basically the world was prepared to live with Iran with nuclear weapons. They certainly have the capability by themselves to set back the Iranian nuclear program.
-- Dennis A. Ross -
We've gotten a long way on missile defense. We know how to do it. We know how to take down incoming warheads, but we need to do a lot more work in order to be - to deploy a system that'll defend the United States against those kinds of limited strikes that might be possible by a nuclear armed North Korea or Iran.
-- Dick Cheney -
There are many good reasons to fear a nuclear Iran, but also many good reasons to fear the consequences of launching a preventive military strike against Iran. If the president, whoever it is, wants to do the latter, he or she should - indeed, under the Constitution, must - go to Congress.
-- Doug Bandow -
It was known in the mid 90s already that Saddam Hussein was a dangerous tyrant that he had already launched aggressions against Iran, he had invaded Kuwait.
-- Douglas J. Feith -
While the United States has largely been missing in action from the diplomatic game, the European Union and Iran have been making progress at developing a formula that would lead to the suspension of Iran's nuclear enrichment program and the start of serious negotiations.
-- Earl Blumenauer -
After September 11, when the United States took action to overthrow the Taliban, our interests and Iran's aligned, and we were able to coordinate quietly but effectively.
-- Earl Blumenauer -
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the President of Iran ... in one shot on his website he appears to be dressed only in flowers. Oh - here's the page, you'll see what I mean.
-- Eddie Mair -
There are nuclear weapons in China, Iran, Korea and Pakistan. It wouldn't take much to send a couple of warheads off on this planet somewhere that would cause a lot of environmental damage, then if you have got someone who wants to retaliate you have real problems.
-- Edward James Olmos -
Iran poses the most serious long-term threat to regional stability.
-- Ehud Barak -
Israel will not tolerate a situation in which Iran has effective control of non-conventional weapons that can be used directly against the state of Israel.
-- Ehud Olmert -
Iran is a major threat to the well-being of Europe and America just as much as it is for the state of Israel.
-- Ehud Olmert -
I think the attempt to draw a comparison between Iran and Syria is false, misleading and dangerous.
-- Ehud Olmert -
It is important that democracy in Lebanon is protected and that Hezbollah will not be supported by outside forces like Syria and Iran.
-- Ehud Olmert -
When the President of Iran talks about removing Israel from the face of the Earth and is building nuclear bombs with a range of 3000km, you have to be worried.
-- Ehud Olmert -
Iran is an anti-Semitic, terrorist government.
-- Ehud Olmert -
At a time when we are facing threats from nations such as North Korea and Iran, and attempting to convince others such as India and Pakistan to become responsible nuclear powers, it is vital that America reclaims the leadership we once had on arms control.
-- Ellen Tauscher -
Iran exports about 2.2 million barrels a day.
-- Elliott Abrams -
In Iran, there is no freedom of the press, no freedom of speech, no independent judiciary, no free elections. There is no freedom of religion - not even for Shiites, who are forced by Irans theocracy to adhere to one narrow set of official rules.
-- Elliott Abrams -
This is the real tragedy of America's 'Internet freedom agenda': It's going to be the dissidents in China and Iran who will pay for the hypocrisy that drove it from the very beginning.
-- Evgeny Morozov -
Iran is a country of 80 million people, educated and dynamic. It sits astride a crucial part of the world. It cannot be sanctioned and pressed down forever. It is the last great civilization to sit outside the global order.
-- Fareed Zakaria -
I did not know many of the details relevant to the Iran and contra initiatives.
-- Fawn Hall -
Putin has a lot at stake here and restoring the relationship with the United States, and there are already signs as Sandy mentioned that he's moving in the right direction to begin to ascertain that their trade with Iran is not used for the production of nuclear weapons.
-- Frank Carlucci -
Over a period of time, I think the popular will in Iran will prevail.
-- Frank Carlucci -
I wouldn't even know - and I spent three years in the CIA - I wouldn't even know how you'd start a covert action program in a place like Iran. It would be extraordinarily difficult.
-- Frank Carlucci
