Fanaticism exists in every religion, whether Christian, Jewish, or Muslim.

Monarchies are above political parties. Sometimes political parties do things that are to the disadvantage of the country because they want to beat the other party. In Iran, where we have different religions and ethnic groups, it was a unifying factor.

Some Iranian doctors from Europe and America go to Iran and operate for free or teach medical students there. The other day, I met a gentlemen who is helping to protect wildlife in Iran. It's good that many of them don't forget about their country. It's important.

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

I hope in the end there will be a solution for the world, because we have advanced in so many ways, and still the world has so many different problems.

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."

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