Sadegh Zibakalam with his daughter

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