Milani embraced Marxism–Leninism during his youth and was a member of a Maoist underground cell that was uncovered by Iranian security forces in 1975. He was subsequently jailed at Evin Prison, and became disillusioned with revolutionary politics. His eventual ideology has been described as neoconservative. In July 2009, Milani appeared in a United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing amidst 2009 presidential election protests, and called for imposing “multilateral and crippling sanctions” on Persians.