No American soldier should be allowed to set foot on Iranian soil, regardless of the criticism we have of the Iranian government.

Europe clearly is the only place where people can speak up critically, and this is a unique cultural value.

We must acquaint the youth to the realities of the world... we must tell them that millions of people around the world have no access to drinking water.

I have never been convinced throughout my life that one needs to be imitating others. I even tell my daughters not to look at me as a model.

We must not enable anyone to impose his personal view regarding religion on others by force, oppression, or pressure.

Whenever Muslim women protest and ask for their rights, they are silenced with the argument that the laws are justified under Islam. It is an unfounded argument. It is not Islam at fault, but rather the patriarchal culture that uses its own interpretations to justify whatever it wants. It utilizes psychology to say that women are emotional. It utilizes medical science to say that men's brains are formed in such a way that they are better able to understand concepts. These are all hypotheses. None of this has been proven.

Sixty-three percent of our university students are female. But you still see violations of women's rights in Iran. A Muslim man can have up to four wives. He can divorce his wife without offering any reason, while it is quite difficult for a woman to get a divorce.