Democracy cannot be exported to some other place. This must be a product of internal domestic development in a society.

Though we still come first in the sphere of gas export, national production has diminished due to the increasing volumes of hydrogenation for the electric power industry and therefore there is a lower need for gas at thermal power plants.

Millions around the world increasingly see America not as a model of democracy but as relying solely on brute force.

All we need is good will, and we have to start working in a way that considers each other's interests [with U.S]. In my view, this is a mandatory condition.

I think that all countries of the region should join their efforts in the fight against a common threat - terrorism in general and ISIS in particular. It concerns Iran as well, it concerns Saudi Arabia (although the two countries do not get along very well, ISIS threatens both of them), it concerns Jordan, it concerns Turkey (in spite of certain problems regarding the Kurdish issue), and, in my opinion, everybody is interested in resolving the situation. Our task is to join these efforts to fight against a common enemy.

I'd rather not deal with such questions, because anyway it's like shearing a pig - lots of screams but little wool.

Prisons where people can't even work is the worst punishment you can think of. And I don't think we should put all convicts in such facilities where people are deprived of their freedom.