“You need to have your lunch before going out to report on this ashghal,” she said, referring to Ahmadinejad. Ashghal, the Persian word for “garbage,” is the strongest insult in my mother’s lexicon.” — Maziar Bahari Copy Share Image
“In arranged marriages in Iran, it is customary that after the family of the boy asks the family of the girl for her hand, they go to her house to discuss the arrangements with her parents. The girl shows her… — 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… — Maziar Bahari Copy Share Image
“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… — Maziar Bahari Copy Share Image
“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
