[1] Ghahraman was a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives for the Green Party from 2017 to 2024, when she resigned amid multiple shoplifting allegations, which she was later convicted of.

"[7][9] Ghahraman worked as a lawyer for the United Nations as part of both the defence and prosecution teams with the tribunals in Rwanda, Cambodia and The Hague.

Her work on the defence teams of accused and convicted war criminals such as Radovan Karadžić and Simon Bikindi, has caused her controversy, although she has claimed transparency throughout.

[19] Her maiden speech, delivered on 15 November 2017, detailed Ghahraman's refugee story and subsequent career as a human rights lawyer.

[28][29][30] Deputy prime minister Winston Peters and Opposition leader Simon Bridges criticised Ghahraman's bill as opportunistic.

That August, Attorney-General David Parker expressed concern that the bill's proposed donation cap could potentially breach the right to free speech.

[43][44] In her statement, Ghahraman said a mental health evaluation found that her behaviour was "not rational in any way" due to "an extreme stress response ... relating to previously unrecognised trauma."

[48] On 29 January, fellow Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick rejected an online conspiracy theory that she had appeared in CCTV footage of Ghahraman shoplifting at Scottie's Boutique.

[50] On 27 February, Newshub reported that Ghahraman was facing a fourth shoplifting charge in relation to the theft of a cardigan valued at NZ$389 from Newmarket retailer Standard Issue.

[52] During an exclusive interview with TVNZ journalist John Campbell, Ghahraman described her shoplifting as acts of "self-sabotage" motivated by work-related stress and online bullying.

[55] In mid-May 2019, ACT Party leader David Seymour sparked controversy with comments made during a radio interview, where he referred to Ghahraman as a "menace to freedom in [New Zealand]" and likened her views on hate speech to tactics used by Mao Zedong, Joseph Stalin, and Adolf Hitler to "gain power through the suppression of free expression".

"[57] She believes representation for women and minorities in politics is important: "Ultimately the sinister face of populism is what really pushed me over the edge to run as a candidate.

[60] In mid-July 2019, Ghahraman was accused of anti-Semitism by New Zealand Jewish Council spokesperson Juliet Moses after she published a tweet on 11 July describing Mary and Joseph as Palestinian refugees.

A Green Party spokesperson responded that Golriz had apologised for her "poorly worded remarks" and said that Ghahraman was going to work with Jewish communities to improve dialogue.

[61] In response, left-wing blogger Martyn "Bomber" Bradbury defended Ghahraman and the Green Party from accusations of anti-Semitism, arguing that this was an attempt to deflect from Israel's occupation of Palestinian land.

[62] In December 2020, Ghahraman joined fellow Green MP Teanau Tuiono and Labour MP Ibrahim Omer in pledging to form a new parliamentary Palestine friendship group to "raise the voices of Palestinian peoples in the New Zealand Parliament" during an event organised by the Wellington Palestine advocacy group to mark "International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinians".

[64] In response, the New Zealand Jewish Council accused Ghahraman of misrepresenting the Sheikh Jarrah dispute and ignoring Hamas' rocket attacks on Israelis, which in their view made her unfit to serve as the Greens' foreign affairs spokesperson.

[66][67] In response to criticism by ACT Party deputy leader Brooke Van Velden, Ghahraman also defended fellow Green MP Ricardo Menéndez March's tweet that said: "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!"

[71] In June 2021, Ghahraman wrote that she was getting her first Kurdish deq tattoos, stating, "I could not be more excited to help revive this beautiful indigenous tradition and connect with the incredible proud elders I remember wearing theirs back home.