Activists From Iran

"Mr. Zarif, you say that you are proud to be under pressure because of Palestine, Lebanon, Yemen and Syria, know that it is not you who is under pressure, in fact it is ordinary people who are under pressure."

"With complete unfairness, they removed me from football and did not even explain about it."

"Whenever I talk about social and civic issues, football is not at the forefront for me. I have to use the position I am in. Our fans buy tickets and cheer us with thousands of misfortunes, so we have to be their media."

"If I am executed, everyone should know that in the 21st century, with all the costs and mechanisms for human rights such as the UN, the Security Council and etc., an innocent person tried and fought with all his might to make his voice heard. But he was executed."

"We have no tribune, no money and no party. The only power we have is the energy and voice of the freedom-loving people of the world"

"The evidence is there if the court wants to investigate [the acts of torture]."

"There is not one shred of evidence in this damned case that shows I’m guilty. But they don’t want to listen to us. I realised they are looking for a neck for their rope."

"From this moment forward, my family and I need help. I am not only talking about Iranian, my audience are every persons who talking about humanity and has a bit of honor in them: Your silence means supporting oppression and oppressors. It means supporting the execution of an innocent person. It means step by step I am getting closer to the gallows."

"There is a proverb [in Persian] that goes innocently to the gallows, but doesn't go to the top. But it's a lie. We are seeing that everything was a lie."

"I want every free and right-seeking person, regardless of their opinion and profession, to be the voice of me and my family. Because human dignity has no meaning except by supporting the right and justice"

"If Iran stands, the world will stand with us and by our side."

"We are not rivals to anyone seeking to assume power. And most certainly, no one can rival the MEK when it comes to honesty, sacrifice and paying the price."

"The translator translates a book for the ones who are not familiar with its language of origin. If someone can read it in the language of origin, he will not need to read its translation. So, when you translate, you first suppose that you translate it for someone who does not know its language and could not explore that world and that thought."

"The science fiction stories are not for the promotion of science and are not only science stories; but stories."

"The best critic of a translation is its second translation and nothing else. The person who translates a text should have something to say about that."

"Must I always send a message for everything," when asked why he had not responded to the award for Shirin Ebadi, the first Iranian Nobel Prize winner, four days after it was made. "The Nobel Peace Prize is not very important, the ones that count are the scientific and literary prizes," he added. However it seemed in those early remarks, Khatami was trying to reduce conservatives anger over Shirin Ebadi, who wore no hijab while accepting the prize in the ceremony, because later Khatami in an interview reported by Iran press service.com () on December 12, 2003 said: "The Nobel Prize is very important in all domains; it is obvious that every Iranian must be proud to know that another Iranian, especially an Iranian woman, got this Prize. This said, more important than the prize of the peace is peace itself. Our world is a world of war, a world of terror and violence, a world of illness and famine, a world of discrimination", he replied when observed that the welcome reserved to the laureate in Iran was "tepid". "Politic is always an important factor. She continues her work, a work that, I hope, she would be able to pursue freely in Iran. I also know that she had some problems"

"Terrorism, which means killing civilians in whatever name or title, lacks morality, and nobody who lacks such principle will go to heaven."

"In response on the motives of suicide bombers, he said that, Those who put others through hell will never go to heaven"."

"After years of fundamentalist rule, Iranian voters, especially women and lower-income people, selected a moderate cleric, Mohammad Khatami, as president in 1997, giving him almost 70 percent of the vote. Khatami was also reelected in 2001 to serve into the year 2005. President Khatami attempted to increase the level of democracy, enhance women’s rights, and pursue friendlier relations with the US and its allies. However, his ability to carry out reforms or modify Iran’s foreign policy was limited because fundamentalists continued to dominate the courts, armed forces, and police. Most importantly, President Khatami’s power as head of government was superseded by Iran’s head of state, the fundamentalist supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran’s moderate politicians were weakened by US President George W. Bush’s hostile attitude toward Iran after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In response, voters in 2005 elected an Iranian president more openly critical of Bush administration policy, fundamentalist-supported Mahmoud Ahmadinejad."

"Allow me also, on behalf of the Asian Group including the Malaysian delegation, to record our appreciation to his Excellency President Khatami of the Islamic Republic of Iran for his dedication and contributions during his tenure as the chairman (Islamic Summit). Iran's role in the furtherance of Islamic causes is not new to us and we are most grateful for its untiring effort."

"Pope John Paul II was a seeker of truth, justice and peace. Pope John Paul II was a disciple of religious mysticism, philosophic deliberation and thought and artistic and poetic creativity, By emphasising his experience and teachings, (he) earnestly tried to utilise them in the path of the triumph of truth, justice and peace. It is hoped that the leadership of Catholic Christianity, by following the teachings of the Prophet Jesus, may peace be upon him, by interacting with justice seeking and peace loving political-religious leaders and by also following the ethical and humanitarian thinking of John Paul II, help the world towards a better and more just life."

"What I propose is that dialogue should take place among cultures and civilizations. And as a first step, I would suggest that cultures and civilizations should not be represented by politicians but by philosophers, scientists, artists and intellectuals.[...] Dialogue will lead to a common language and a common language will culminate in a common thought, and this will turn into a common approach to the world and global events."

"Faith and Religiosity is compatible with human nature,The most Wretch man is one who has no religion."

"One cannot reach paradise by creating Hell for others."

"We believe that Hizbullah has an authentic Lebanese identity. We love Hizbullah. I emphasized this in talks with Mr. Chirac, who said he has never called to weaken or disarm Hizbullah, and on that matter he is in disagreement with some of his European allies. Hizbullah will remain and keep its weapons."

"Hezbollah is like a shining sun which warms up all oppressed Muslims, especially those in Palestine and Lebanon."

"Offending and insulting, is different from expressing an opinion that can be analyzed, argued on, and can eventually be accepted or rejected [therefore offending others is not acceptable] … But in addition to the west, we ourselves also have problems in this regard. Instead of logical criticism or debate, we only keep saying offensive things about liberalism, democracy and modernism. I had told some of our elders before, that the religion of the today's world is 'liberalism' and we have no right to make insults about it. We should not keep using phrases such as "the corrupt culture of the west" etc. in our words. As it's also said in the Holy Koran, "Do not insult the gods of others, otherwise you are indirectly insulting your God"."

"...the policies that the United States has chosen unfortunately have brought about the wrong sentiment toward the United States and has only increased, and will only increase, extremism in our region."

"I don't like the death penalty, although if there is one case where there should be an execution, the fairest case would be for Saddam. But I would never wish for that."

"Of course we may assume many general and non-historical meanings for secularism, but turning a subject that is in all its existence a historical matter into a non-historical matter is a blatant mistake."

"Secularism is the experience of the Western culture and thought. Insisting on spreading it to places where the underlying intellectual background, and the political and social reasons for its appearance are lacking, is clearly a mistake, regardless of being desirable or not."

"Without a doubt, we will succeed in moving forward, only if we have the capacity to reap the benefit of positive, scientific and social accomplishments of Western civilization."

"Liberalism is the world's religion. We do not have the right to insult liberalism."

"A basic change in political ethics is required for the realization of the proposal [The dialog among civilizations]."

"In order to understand the meaning of the phrase dialogue among civilizations as defined here, one has no choice but to closely pay attention to a number of points one of which is the relationship between a politician and an artist, and the other is the relationship between ethics and politics."

"A man who becomes used to deluding himself, who fails to face his own faults with revolutionary honesty and even lies to himself, is the most likely to become a traitor, since lying is the beginning of treachery."

"Your defeat is not only a reality, which has been historically proven time and again. It can also be seen in your helplessness and your inability to suppress the movement, in your desperate conduct when faced with our guerrillas and the vanguard of the people."

"For a while longer you may be able to carry on with your plundering and murderous crimes, but you will not escape your ultimate fate. We shall exhaust and then destroy you in a difficult and prolonged battle. When one of us falls, there are tens of others who will rise. Our death is no ordinary death and our life no ordinary life."

"The thought that I had been captured so soon, without having done anything for the revolution, made me feel ashamed. I thought: at least now, I must carry out my duty well under torture."