Sadegh Zibakalam

Sadegh Zibakalam Mofrad (; described as reformist and neo-liberal. Zibakalam is a former professor at University of Tehran and appears frequently on international news outlets including the BBC News and Al Jazeera. His books "How Did We Become What We Are? " and "An Introduction to Islamic Revolution" are among bestsellers and prominent books on Iranian contemporary politics.

Zibakalam has become known in Iran for his debates with hardliners in which he publicly challenges the state line on many sensitive topics.

Early life Zibakalam was born into a Shiite family in Tehran. He obtained his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom. Zibakalam was a critic of the Shah during his reign and was jailed for 2 years due to this.

Zibakalam held several government positions after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and played a major role in the Islamic Revolution in Iran, something he has later apologized for and expressed regret over.

2000 Parliament election disqualification While teaching at Islamic Azad University of Zanjan, Zibakalam registered as a candidate for the 2000 Islamic legislative election from Zanjan, but he was disqualified by the Guardian Council.

Zibakalam has questioned the achievements of the nuclear program of Iran and for this he has been charged with "weakening the system". In February 2014, Zibakalam publicly stated that he recognized the State of Israel because the United Nations recognises it as a state.

Imprisonment Sadegh Zibakalam received a one-year prison term from the Islamic Revolutionary Court in March 2018 as a result of critical remarks he made in an "Interview with a Persian-language foreign medium," Deutsche Welle. In addition to the jail sentence, he got a two-year ban from any political and social media activity, as well as from writing for print media, in addition to the jail sentence. He was also accused of "spreading falsehood to disturb public opinion online."