Inside Iran

It is a sunny afternoon in Esfahan - one of Iran's most beautiful cities. As we walk through a local park, we meet a group of women on a picnic.

Ann Curry: Hello?

Woman: Hello.

Ann Curry: Thank you so much.

They dress in traditional chadors - which cover their bodies completely.  They explain it's all about maintaining modesty.

Ann Curry: Can you show me then, how do you wear this chador exactly? Okay, you put it on.

Though, this type of clothing is mandatory in places like Saudi Arabia, a U.S. ally. In Iran, it's a choice. Women in these families have dressed like this for generations.

Ann Curry: Now, what about your face? How much of your face do you have to cover? Oh, like this.

They say women should be covered for their own protection.

Ann Curry: Doesn't it get pretty hot under this?

Hot, perhaps, but this woman says covering yourself helps you get to paradise. And, they tell me I look better in a Chador. Chadors may not be mandatory in Iran, but remember, by law women must keep their heads covered in public. Iranian-American author Hooman Majd:

Ann Curry: And if I don't--

Hooman Majd: Yes.

Ann Curry: --do this, if someone--

Hooman Majd: Yes.

Ann Curry: --wanted to, they could call the police?

Hooman Majd: They could-- they could call the-- morals police--

Ann Curry: And what would happen to me?

Hooman Majd: As a foreigner, nothing would happen to you.  As an Iranian, they would say-- they would give you a stern warning.

Ann Curry: What if I did it again?  What if I--

Hooman Majd: Then--

Ann Curry: --refused to wear one?

Hooman Majd: If you refused to wear one, you would-- you could go to jail.

In the capital of Tehran, many women have a more modern approach to complying with the law. Finding fashionable ways to wear their headscarves - called hijabs.

Shopowner: Our clients are diverse. From young girls to 60-year-old women.

At shops like this, women can buy Western styles.

Shopowner: We do have clients that are dressed in chador and they do buy a dress which might be sleeveless or open, but  they wear them in the privacy of their own home.

But women here face much more serious challenges than the dress code. Nasrin Sotoudeh is a leading human rights lawyer.

Ann Curry: I notice you're the first woman I've interviewed who has not felt a need to wear this.  Why are you not wearing it?

Nasrin Sotoudeh: Although we don't like this law and we oppose it, we have to obey it and we do obey it just in public.  Here is my private office. I don't have to wear a hijab. 

She takes on issues she says are long overlooked: She defends women’s rights activists, including this one who was sentenced to three years in prison just for campaigning for equal rights. And she points out that when a parent dies, daughters inherit only half the amount sons do. Men can divorce at will.  Women cannot. Sotoudeh is also fighting to get Iran to stop executing minors. 

Nasrin Sotoudeh: Usually they keep them in jail and then, when they are over 18, they execute them.

A mother of two, she says she's lucky to have a husband who supports her work.

Nasrin's husband: I love my wife unconditionally. I support what she does and I think what she does is extremely important.

Last year, she was awarded an international human rights prize, but Iran's government stopped her from leaving the country to accept it.

Ann Curry: So you have chosen a line of work that breaks your heart and does it over and over again.

Nasrin Sotoudeh: Yes, you have understood it right. It is very difficult work. With many difficulties we manage to do it. Once it is done, we feel very pleased.

Over and over again in Iran, we meet women who are challenging the status quo. Like filmmaker Tahmineh Milani.

Tahmineh Milani: I believe this way.  This is the-- best way to change people. 

Milani is one of the most popular and respected directors in Iran.  She's won numerous international awards for her films, most of which are about the unseen lives of middle-class women in Iran.

Tahmineh Milani: They accept their situation.  And they don't talk, they don't protest.  But they suffer.

Her movies have to be cleared by censors.  At least three have been banned. She says that earlier in her career, she challenged the country's top censor.

Tahmineh Milani: I went there and he start to-- accuse me.  And he said, "We will bring you and we will-- beat you-- here."

Ann Curry: Whip you.

Tahmineh Milani: Yes, whip you.  Yes, yes, yeah, whip you. 

She was not beaten, but pregnant with twins at the time, she says the stress took its toll. She gave birth prematurely. Her daughter lived.

Tahmineh Milani: And after two, three days my son died. 

Ann Curry: Why didn't you stop your work?

Tahmineh Milani: Because I believe my way.  Because, I believe-- I can be useful in my society, because this is my society.  This is my country.  We really love Iran.  I choose to live here and I want to keep this place. 

In 2001, she made a film called "the hidden half" about a woman unjustly sentenced to death.  Ironically, after the film was released, Milani was arrested and jailed and faced the death penalty herself.

Ann Curry: They accused you of being anti-God.

Tahmineh Milani: Yeah, and three--

Ann Curry: Other charges.

Tahmineh Milani: --more dangerous than these. 

She says she was given a stern warning:

Tahmineh Milani: "We are going to kill you to be good lesson to another people."

Ann Curry: They said that to you? They said, "We're gonna kill you"?

Tahmineh Milani: Yes, yes.  I had four death penalties.

Ann Curry: For making a movie.

Tahmineh Milani: Yes. 

After an international outcry, including pleas from Hollywood heavyweights like Martin Scorsese, Milani was released. She says she's learned from experience how to work within the system to get her message across, even if it means restraining her work.

Ann Curry: So, you're saying that the censorship is affecting your work?

Tahmineh Milani: Well, of course it is.

Because of government censors, her current release, superstar, about a narcissistic movie star, is less political. But, Tahmineh Milani believes no matter who wins next week's presidential election here, greater freedom of expression is coming to Iran.

Ann Curry: You could not make these movies, then, unless you had faith in the future for Iran.  So what is the future for Iran's women that you dream of?

Tahmineh Milani: Everything is going to be changed.

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