Dr. Darabi drove to the local gas station and asked the attendants to fill her tank and a spare can. Then she drove to northern Tehran, to a plaza in an upper-class neighborhood. Tajrish Square is incessantly noisy and crowded, even during Ramadan. The surrounding streets are residential, but the plaza itself is lined with offices, small shops and fruit stands. A loudspeaker from a nearby mosque broadcasts prayers and ritual lamentations.
Many bus routes come through here.
At each stop there are two lines, one for men and one for women, who must travel in separate vehicles, except on larger buses where women ride in the back. Dr. Darabi was familiar with the neighborhood. Sometime before, a girl of 16 or 17 had been shot in this square in a skirmish with a overzealous guard who had stopped her for wearing lipstick. Dr. Darabi stopped her car and walked to the center of the plaza. Passersby stopped, frozen, as she tore off her headscarf and emptied the gasoline can on her head.