She sketched T-shirt designs, had them produced at workshops in downtown Tehran. “At first, work was very hard,” she said. “The stores would try to rip us off.”

Business grew, and Sudaveh took a chance. She bought some equipment, hired a few workers and began producing the clothes herself. It was rare for a woman to run a factory, so it immediately aroused the suspicion of the morality police.

The Islamic Republic’s restrictions on dress and social behaviour barely affected Zarir’s south Tehran neighbourhood during the 1980s. Zarir came from a strictly religious family.

At 16, she was married off. Her husband was abusive and divorced her. To make matters worse, he refused to let her see her children. With no means to look after herself, she persuaded her conservative father to let her look for a job. That’s when she met Sudaveh.

“When I came here, I was in a really bad state,” said Zarir, now in her early 40s and manager of the workshop.

Her father was impressed with Sudaveh and agreed to let Zarir work at the factory as long as she did not go down where the men worked.

After Sudaveh learnt of her employee’s tale of heartbreak, she gave her some advice — to discreetly befriend her ex-husband’s new wife, and offer to take care of the children now and then. It worked.

Soon Zarir and the second wife were conspiring, getting her the time with her children that had been denied by their father and the Islamic courts.

... contd.