It's normal that countries work for their own benefit, political and economic.

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 always want to remain positive. In our long history, Iran has been invaded by so many other countries and despite it all, the Iranian identity has survived. People are very courageous, especially the women, who are braver than the men.

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

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.

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

I wanted to preserve the old buildings, not to destroy them and build something new.