Book nowIranian human rights advocate. Daughter of a murdered writer and dissident. Two decades of advocacy, and a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran.
This is the question every booker asks. Here is the honest answer, and it is the reason she is a good guest rather than a risky one.
The MEK, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, and its political umbrella the NCRI are polarizing. The organization was on the U.S. State Department terror list from 1997 until 2012, and on EU and UK lists before that. Critics, including some human rights organizations, have raised concerns about its internal culture and methods. This is not a fringe view and Zolal does not pretend otherwise.
The MEK was delisted after a sustained bipartisan campaign and court rulings that pushed the State Department to review the designation. The NCRI counts support from former U.S. Secretaries of State, senior members of both parties, and hundreds of European parliamentarians. The 1988 massacre, in which the regime executed thousands of MEK prisoners, has been described by Amnesty International and UN human rights experts as a crime against humanity.
She does not dodge the hard question. She engages it directly, on air, with specificity and without defensiveness. Bookers who have put her in skeptical rooms report that her willingness to address criticism head-on is what earns audience trust. You can book her into a tough interview and she will not break.
Zolal Habibi is an Iranian human rights activist and a prominent voice for justice, democracy, and women’s rights in Iran. She serves on the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, advocating globally for a free, secular, and democratic Iran.
With over two decades of activism she has become an advocate on behalf of the voiceless inside Iran, appearing regularly in international forums, human rights conferences, and live broadcasts across major media platforms.
Born and raised in the United States, her activism began in her teens, shaped by the loss of her father, a respected Iranian writer and political dissident who was killed by the regime during the 1988 massacre when she was seven years old. That loss became a lifelong commitment to ensuring no other family suffers the same, and that the voices of Iran’s political prisoners and dissidents are heard.
Her work has contributed to international recognition of the 1988 massacre as a crime against humanity, and to the safe relocation of 3,000 at-risk dissidents from Iraq. That is advocacy translated into outcomes that saved lives.
Of advocacy for human rights and democratic change
Safely relocated from Iraq
Foreign Affairs Committee, National Council of Resistance of Iran
Zolal analyses the execution figures and mass arrests, how the crackdown targets ethnic and religious minorities under national security pretexts, and what she argues that pattern reveals about the regime response to internal and external pressure.
Why she argues targeted sanctions on prison authorities and enablers of repression matter, and practical strategies for sanctions that support Iranian civil society without empowering hardliners.
Why Iranian women are leading the resistance, and what policymakers, media, and young people can do that actually helps rather than endangers.
What a secular, democratic Iran would look like. Governance structures, rights guarantees, regional de-escalation, and the practical steps to get there.
Truth, justice, and accountability. How international recognition of the atrocity creates precedent for current accountability measures and empowers survivors.
Iran’s protest movements and youth uprisings, the grassroots energy driving them, and how the international community can support those voices without putting them at greater risk.
What they are demanding, what they are hoping for, and why the crackdown has not worked.
How it differs from 2022, 2019 and 2017, and whether it represents a structural shift rather than another cycle.
What alternatives exist, and how she envisions a democratic Iran becoming reality rather than a slogan.
What guarantees exist, and what makes the situation fundamentally different.
The policy tools available, and what ordinary people around the world can actually do.
What the world can learn from their courage, strategy and vision under escalating repression.
About the Iran crisis and about opposition groups, and how those misunderstandings hold things back.
The MEK has been called a cult and was on the U.S. terror list until 2012. She takes that question directly, along with what her critics get right.
How escalating repression targets dissidents, minorities and ordinary citizens under the banner of national security, and what international accountability measures could stop it.
Past the talks-versus-pressure frame. A detailed roadmap for a free, secular, democratic Iran with institutions, rights guarantees, and accountability mechanisms that reduce regional risk.
The role of female leadership in the struggle for freedom, with lessons applicable to liberation movements worldwide and concrete steps for international support.
Who is marching, what they want, and why the current moment may be a turning point. Built to hang off whatever news peg is live in your production week.
Seven appearances in 2026 alone, across politics, leadership, women’s empowerment and current affairs shows. Three are embedded below.
Resilient leadership under pressure. Courage, clarity and values when the cost of staying true to them is high. Aimed at business owners and managers.
Human rights and women in Iran. Resistance units on the ground, the ten-point plan and transition roadmap, and why women lead the movement.
Iran’s fight for freedom beyond war and appeasement. The 1988 massacre, misconceptions about the NCRI, and why she rejects a return to monarchy.
A first interview and a follow-up a month later on worsening conditions: arrests, executions, and the repression of women.
Women on the rise. Freedom, dignity and human rights, and the courage it takes to stand up for justice.
Season four opener. A long-form conversation on two decades of activism and the current climate in Iran.
Inspiring Minds Podcast, with Dr. Anabel Ternes von Hattburg. Losing her father to political violence, the role of women and youth in the resistance, and how memory becomes a tool for justice.
Heartcast Media. A searing account of the 1988 massacre, the fatwa, the mass graves, and the ongoing pursuit of justice.
Let’s Talk Democracy Podcast. Tracing the century-long quest for democracy in Iran, from the 1906 constitutional revolution to the Women Life Freedom movement.
Iran, Iranian resistance, human rights, women in leadership, women’s rights, MEK, NCRI, democracy in Iran, Middle East geopolitics, Iran policy, geopolitical analysis, democratic movements.
Available daily, 4:00 AM to 6:00 PM EST. All booking handled through Heartcast Media.