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1. If you look at the developments in the international scene over the past many years, we haven’t been able to resolve many problems and many crises, because we have approached them from a zero-sum perspective. My gain has always been defined as somebody else’s loss, and through that, we never resolve problems.
2. I have no problem saying that I have differences in policy with the United States.
3. Even for defeating extremists, you need more than a military strategy.
4. Actually, if you look at the essence of ISIS, how it came about, it’s the product of foreign invasion. Foreign invasion in Iraq led to removal of Saddam Hussein, and we’re not unhappy with that, but the point is that foreign presence in any territory has created dynamics. And you cannot avoid those dynamics.
5. Nuclear talks are not about nuclear capability. They are about Iranian integrity and dignity.
6. I have lost every respect for U.S. justice. The judgment by the Supreme Court and the other, even more absurd judgment by a New York circuit court deciding that Iran should pay damages for 9/11 are the height of absurdity.
7. I think the United States, whether you have a Democratic president or whether you have a Republican president, is bound by international law, whether some senators like it or not.
8. Iran has not invaded any other country. We have not threatened to use force. Just exactly the opposite of Israel. Israel threatens to use force against Iran almost on a daily basis. And it has a record.
9. If anything caused ISIS, it was the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.
10. That’s what I do not believe — that dividing Iran into ‘reasonable’ and ‘unreasonable’ forces is either correct, conducive, or anybody’s business. When the United States exercised that practice in the past, it didn’t produce results.
11. If we can ascertain and show to our people that the West is ready to deal with Iran on the basis of mutual respect and mutual interests and equal footing, then it will have an impact on almost every aspect of Iran’s foreign policy behavior — and some aspects of Iran’s domestic policy.
12. The Iranian people are known for adhering to their undertakings. We have been tested by history. We’re an old civilization. We’ve been tested by history. We haven’t aggressed upon any country for 250 years. This is a history that I’m proud of.
13. The United States wanted to send its trained rebel groups to Syria to fight ISIS. Out of twenty-five hundred rebels they had trained, only seventy accepted to go to Syria to fight ISIS. Everybody else wanted to go to Syria to fight the government. So you’ve got to wake up and smell the coffee… The rebel groups have not fired a shot against ISIS.
14. In order to practice dialogue, you need to be able to set aside your assumptions and try to listen more than you want to talk. It’s not always politically correct to be able to do that, but it can give you a better sense of the reality.
15. That’s the problem with the United States. It believes it can control everybody’s behavior.
16. Iran is not interested in a war. Iran is capable of defending itself and teaching a very harsh lesson to anybody who commits aggression against Iran, but we’re not interested.
17. Iran is not in any sort of routine groupings. It’s not an Arab country. It’s not part of the Indian subcontinent. So it’s in a neighborhood where it has some unique characteristics. We are a country which embraced Islam, learned Arabic, but didn’t change its language or its culture… That’s what keeps us unique.
18. We hope that Saudi Arabia can come to terms with its neighbours, end the hostilities — which can only produce hatred in Yemen — and live peacefully with their neighbours. They cannot blame everything on Iran.
19. I have disagreements with some and more agreements with others. But that doesn’t mean I cannot listen to those I disagree with.
20. Iran did not talk to the United States for 35 years. And now we are talking. And I believe these talks are useful. But they haven’t produced the intended results. We have not seen an end to the hostility that has been exhibited in the United States against Iran. And I believe it is important that we see some of that.