Her other film appearances include The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005), X-Men: The Last Stand and The Nativity Story (both 2006), The Odd Life of Timothy Green (2013) and Star Trek Beyond (2016).

[1] For her role as Sajida Talfah in the HBO miniseries House of Saddam (2008), she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie.

[3] Once Aghdashloo arrived in England, she earned a bachelor's degree in international relations at Brunel University[4] because of her interest in politics after having to leave her home country.

In 2001 Aghdashloo was cast opposite Ben Kingsley and Jennifer Connelly in director Vadim Perelman's House of Sand and Fog (2003)[11] for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

[12] Following this exposure Aghdashloo had a prominent recurring role in Season 4 of the Fox television series 24,[13] playing Dina Araz, a terrorist undercover in Los Angeles as a well-to-do housewife and mother.

In an interview with Time magazine, Aghdashloo stated that although she had previously resisted reinforcing the stereotype of Muslims as terrorists, the strength and complexity of the role convinced her to accept it.

She also played supporting roles in films such as X-Men: The Last Stand as Dr. Kavita Rao, The Lake House, The Nativity Story as Elizabeth, and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2.

"[15] In the same year, she also portrayed Sajida Talfah in the HBO original miniseries House of Saddam for which she received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie.

[19] From 2015 to 2022, Aghdashloo starred in Amazon Prime Video's television series The Expanse as UN Deputy Undersecretary of Executive Administration Chrisjen Avasarala, a "smart and passionate member of a political family legacy who has risen high in the ranks of Earth's governing body without once standing for election".