Unfortunately For Governments Like That

I Finally Returned To Iran In 1979, When I Got My Degree In English And American Literature, And Stayed For 18 Years In The Islamic Republic.

In The Past 30 Years, Officials Of The Iranian Regime And Its Apologists Have Labeled Criticism, Especially With Regard To Women's Rights, As Anti-islamic And Pro-western, Justifying Its Brutalities By Ascribing Them To Islam And Iran's Culture.

I Think Islam Is In A Sense, In Crisis. It Needs To Question And Re-question Itself.

I Believe In Empathy. I Believe In The Kind Of Empathy That Is Created Through Imagination And Through Intimate, Personal Relationships. I Am A Writer And A Teacher, So Much Of My Time Is Spent Interpreting Stories And Connecting To Other Individuals. It Is The Urge To Know More About Ourselves And Others That Creates Empathy. Through Imagination And Our Desire For Rapport, We Transcend Our Limitations, Freshen Our Eyes, And Are Able To Look At Ourselves And The World Through A New And Alternative Lens.

When I First Left Iran At The Age Of 13, Iran Had Become Such A Shining Star - It Was The Point To Which All My Desires And Dreams Returned.