Part 3: Chapters 1 - 5 Summary

In September 1980, the Iran-Iraq war began with an attack by Iraq on Iran. It was unclear what had provoked Iraq's attack. But Nafisi knew that her life would never be the same. The war seemed senseless. It lasted eight years and left over one million people dead or injured. The regime now cast internal enemies as agents of Iraq. Any form of dissent was now considered as Iraq-inspired subversion. The war against Iraq was cast in the same light as the historic battles against infidels throughout the history of Islam. It was a war of God against Satan.

One day, Nafisi meets for lunch with a colleague, Dr. Nassri. Nassri announces that she is now a free woman - she has been expelled from the university. Nassri is happy to be out of the institution but is forced to...