They want liberalization! I'll give them liberalization. I'll loosen the screws until the Americans beg me to tighten them again.

You approach the Mullahs as if they are normal people. They are not. You see them in your own image; you should not.

Many Westerners forget that when the Prophet spoke of four wives as the maximum allowable number, he had in mind a reduction to four as compared to the number then often prevailing; moreover, Mohammed specified that a man should acquire more than one wife only if he could treat them all with equal justice - obviously a difficult feat for even the most diligent man to achieve. In effect, then, the Prophet curtailed the number of wives.

They want liberalization! I'll give them liberalization. I'll loosen the screws until the Americans beg me to tighten them again.

contrary to what many believed, my father was kind and tenderhearted, especially towards his family. His forbidding sternness seemed to melt into love, kindness, and easy familiarity when he was with us. Especially with me, his acknowledged successor to the throne, he would play lightheartedly. When we were alone together, he would sing me little songs; I don't remember his ever doing this in front of others, but when only the two of us were there, he would often sing to me.

It would serve the Americans right if we emptied the prisons and let the subversives take power. They'd soon show Washington just how much they appreciate good old American values.

As far as we are concerned, we are not the toys of any country, including the United States.