“The next day, Sunday, June 14, Ahmadinejad held a press conference in the office of the president, on Pasteur Street in south Tehran. In the large white room with its decorative varnished wood panels, I sat among the dozens of… — Maziar Bahari Copy Share Image
“Talking to a prisoner under duress can be the most shameful thing a journalist will ever do. I stared at him, willing him to… — Maziar Bahari Copy Share Image
“When I saw my backside, I gasped. “I have no ass!” I said aloud. “They have left me no ass!” — Maziar Bahari Copy Share Image
“After, presumably, Rosewater found out that Chekhov was not Jewish, he did not bother with any more questions about people with surnames ending with ov. That included my Israeli friend David Shem-tov. I don’t think you can find a more Israeli name than Shem-tov, but I could just imagine the Revolutionary Guards researchers saying to each other, “Chekhov, Molotov, Shem-tov,… — Maziar Bahari Copy Share
“Tsk, tsk, tsk, Maziar,” he said sarcastically. “Don’t play games with me, or you will make me angry again. Don’t tell me that you don’t know about these parties where men and women start with dinner and drinking alcohol and then go to the swimming pool, where they eat chocolate off each other’s bodies.” I sat silently, trying to picture… — Maziar Bahari Copy Share
“Jafaa. In Persian, this very poetic word refers to all the wrongs you do to those who love you.” — Maziar Bahari Copy Share Image
“Seventy-four suspended lashes for having tea with your friend!” she said, with as much hatred as I’d ever heard in her voice. “What do… — Maziar Bahari Copy Share Image
“I detested revolutions; I believed, instead, in reconciliation and reform.” — Maziar Bahari Copy Share Image
“Do you think we’re like you Americans in Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo who torture people by keeping them thirsty? We have something called ra’fateh… — Maziar Bahari Copy Share Image
“We were all caught in that uncomfortable zone between trying to save our lives and betraying ourselves.” — Maziar Bahari Copy Share Image
“You need to have your lunch before going out to report on this ashghal,” she said, referring to Ahmadinejad. Ashghal, the Persian word for… — Maziar Bahari Copy Share Image
“The next day, Sunday, June 14, Ahmadinejad held a press conference in the office of the president, on Pasteur Street in south Tehran. In… — Maziar Bahari Copy Share Image
“No one believes in the koseh she’r”—the bullshit—“that you’re going to say.” — Maziar Bahari Copy Share Image
