Sadegh Zibakalam

Sadegh Zibakalam

Zibakalam at Bushehr Airport, 2013
Born (1948-06-12) 12 June 1948
Tehran, Iran
Residence Sa'adat Abad, Tehran[1]
Nationality Iranian
Fields Political Science
Institutions University of Tehran
Islamic Azad University
Alma mater University of Bradford
Thesis The Historical Genesis of the Islamic Revolution (1989)
Doctoral advisor Thomas Gerard Gallagher
Notable students Saeed Hajjarian[2]
Fatemeh Hashemi Rafsanjani[2]
Influences Ghazali[3]
Website
www.zibakalam.com

Sadegh Zibakalam Mofrad (born 12 June 1948) commonly known as Sadegh Zibakalam (Persian: صادق زیباکلام) is an Iranian university professor, writer and a political analyst. A graduate of the University of Bradford,[4] he is a professor at University of Tehran[5] and appears frequently on international news outlets[6] including the BBC and Aljazeera.

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.[2]

Zibakalam has become a familiar face in Iran for his passionate and daring debates with hardliners in which he publicly challenges the state line on many sensitive topics. Zibakalam’s Facebook page has attracted more than 350k likes. His name literally means “eloquent speaker” in Persian language.[7]

2000 Parliament election disqualification

While teaching at Islamic Azad University of Zanjan, Zibakalam registered as a candidate for the Iranian legislative election, 2000 from Zanjan, but he was disqualified by the Guardian council.[2]

Views

In January 2014, he wrote an open letter to Hassan Rouhani and criticized him for not focusing on his campaign promises including freeing political prisoners and ending house arrest of the 2009 presidential candidates (Mir-Hossein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard, and Mehdi Karroubi). This was in reaction to a recent Ruhani's speech in praise of pro-government protests against Green Movement protests on Ashura of 2009.[8]

Zibakalam has questioned achievements of nuclear program of Iran and for this he has been charged with "weakening the system".[9][10] In February 2014, Zibakalam publicly stated that he recognizes the State of Israel because the United Nations recognises it as a state.[7]

References

  1. صادق زیباکلام اینگونه شیفته آیت‌الله هاشمی شد (in Persian), namehnews.ir, retrieved 24 March 2015
  2. 1 2 3 4 مردی که زیاد می داند (in Persian), tourjan.com, retrieved 24 April 2015
  3. مناظره خواندنی زیباکلام و خسروپناه در باره نقش دین و عقل در زندگی انسان (in Persian), Khabar Online, retrieved 24 March 2015
  4. Bradford link stirred PM to press Shah to free academic detainee | General | Times Higher Education
  5. Iran's regional aspirations face realities at non-aligned nations summit | The Times of Israel
  6. This House believes that Iran poses the greatest threat to security in the region | Series 2 | The Doha Debates
  7. 1 2 "The Iranian professor who dares to differ on nuclear matters and Israel". The Guardian. 8 April 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  8. Karami, Arash (3 January 2014). "Rouhani criticized by supporter for statement on 2009 elections". AL-MONITOR. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  9. "Dismantling the wall - Hassan Rohani has changed the mood in Iran. But he faces opposition". The Economist Newspaper. 22 February 2014. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  10. Ghazi, Fereshteh (6 February 2014). "Is it a Crime to Not Defend the Nuclear Program?". Rooz online. Retrieved 21 February 2014.

External links


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