En abril de 2015, una font propera a ell va dir a l'ICHRI que si hagués pensat que l'empresonarien, mai no hauria tornat a l'Iran: «És un artista, no un activista polític.
A source close to him told the Campaign in April 2015 that if he had thought he would be arrested, he would have never returned to Iran. “He is an artist, not a political activist.