There are many people inside Iran who say, "We don't have enough to eat. Why do we need a nuclear bomb?"

Of course, I didn't become an architect, but later on in Iran, I had a lot of contact and discussions with architects because Iran was developing, and I felt we shouldn't destroy the past and copy completely the West, which is the problem in developing countries.

I hope that things will change, because it's a pity that a country like Iran is not where it should be, or where it has been historically. It's important for Iran, for all of the Middle East, and also for the rest of the world.

Iranian women are very courageous and active, even with all the oppression.

In Iran, as in all developing countries, they wanted to copy the outside world, without knowing what was good for our own country.

There are many people inside Iran who say, "We don't have enough to eat. Why do we need a nuclear bomb?"

I remember I went to an exhibition somewhere and one of the artists, an Iranian lady, said, "I wish we had somewhere that our paintings would stay forever." So this idea came to me. I said, "She's right, we should have a place to keep them, and not only Iranian art works, but also of foreign artists."