we can't just say that we support them
and then block them from coming to the United States,
or block their ability to do business with the rest of the world.
While I am very angry about what was done to my family and me,
When the people that did this to me were still
For as many criminal acts as this regime will undertake,
and has undertaken for years,
if we truly support the democratic aspirations of
the people of Iran,
we should be showing that in deed.
with the rest of the world
creating a situation where their
currency tumbles in value,
to such an extent that
My hopes for the people of Iran,
are that they are able to experience
a freer, more integrated life in the future.
And that they experienced less impediments
to their natural rights and aspirations
to living a life just like people in every other country in the world.
My hope also is that the powers that be in this country
and around the world realize that
and help to prop those regimes up
and amplify their bad behavior.
to many of these countries, and Iran is just one of them.
I was told that I would be released
in the beginning of January of 2016.
While I found it hard to believe because my captors
had been so dishonest about so many different things,
it made some sense.
What was going on were secret negotiations for me
and other Americans being held.
I understood, during that time,
there are lots of people all over the world
But their imprisonment and the struggle over their release could
actually have larger implications beyond themselves.
If I was gonna be on the ground telling these stories,
if I couldn't infuse the stories of everyday Iranians into it,
Every country, every society
has some realities that we can see and some that we can't.
We can fall very easily into stereotyping and
the human element gets lost.
But I learned over time that if I found
a compelling way to tell a story
and could relate it to the larger puzzle of
trying to understand this country
that has been so isolated so long and has such
that I might have an opportunity to infuse my news stories
with some of these things.
And I'm very proud of the work that I did for
the Post during the time that I was working for them in Tehran.