Bourse and Bazaar | AFP: Saba was just 25 when she left her design job�in New York to work on a project renovating an art gallery back in her�hometown Tehran.

Within months, she won three more contracts to do up galleries and the�lobby of an apartment complex.

"I had dreamt of building my own company, but I hadn't expected it to�happen any time soon. If I had stayed in New York, I wouldn't have had this�chance," said Saba, now 27.

She says the position of women in Iran has changed a lot over the past�decade.

"People now trust women in management positions. Still it's hard,�especially on a construction site. But it's hard anywhere. It's hard in New�York," she told AFP.

As the Islamic republic marks its 40th birthday, few issues are more�politically sensitive or full of contradictions than the status of women.

After the revolution, Islamic laws gave women a lower legal status than�men, requiring them, for example, in many cases to gain permission from their�father or husband to leave the country.

They are considered to have half the value of men in various legal aspects�such as inheritance and testimony in court.

'A Path Forward'

But the Islamic republic also encouraged education for women, who now�outnumber men at universities -- a development that has transformed�expectations and overturned centuries-old traditions.

"Going to university was a path forward for girls like us who did not want�to end up like our mothers in a traditional society," said Mina, a 25-year-old�linguistics student in Tehran.

Mina didn't tell her father she was studying for the university entrance�exam.

"He couldn't believe it when I was accepted, that I would go to some other�city to live. He actually stopped talking to me for some time," she said.

"Whatever you do, your gender is the deciding factor," said 26-year-old�archaeology student Sara.

It makes you believe that you have to have kids, you have to be modest.�You can barely believe that you can be independent, be seen as an individual�with a character," she added.

She said discrimination was rife in her field.

"Male archaeologists prefer not to work with women even if they're�competent. They say it's just trouble. The women must keep their hijab at all�times... they won't be taken seriously by laborers," she said.

"If a woman is successful in a line of work like this, she's fought very�hard. And not all women are capable of fighting so much."

'Tool of Male Arousal'

Iran's rulers claim that Islamic gender laws�particularly "hijab" rules�that require women to wear a headscarf and modest clothing�are designed to�protect women.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei tweeted in 2018 that the #MeToo�movement was evidence of how Western society had failed women.

"The Western model for women is symbolic of consumerism, cosmetics, showing�off for men as a tool of male sexual arousal," he wrote.

Nonetheless, clothing norms in Iran have gradually but significantly�changed in recent years.

It is now unremarkable, especially in wealthier areas, to see women in�tight jeans with loose, colorful headscarves.

The morality police that patrolled the streets, adjusting headscarves or�bursting into cafes to make sure any couples were related, are now rarely seen.

'Nothing Lke It Was'

The authorities still draw the line at actively protesting the compulsory�hijab: several women were arrested last year for doing so, and a prominent�rights lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh, jailed after taking on their cases.

But many also recall how much they have clawed back since the early days of�the revolution.

"It's nothing like it was. You couldn't even get a lift with a male�friend," said a female journalist in Tehran.

"We were terrified of being stopped, because they were out there, checking�cars. Or going for lunch with a (male) friend�it would never happen! Now no�one even thinks twice about these things."

Many were still dismayed that "moderate" President Hassan Rouhani, who ran�on promises to improve citizens' rights, again failed to appoint a female�minister after his 2017 re-election.

"There is a glass ceiling and it will continue," said Fereshteh Sadeghi, a�political journalist in Tehran.

"When Rouhani reached power it seems he didn't want to fall out with the�ayatollahs, and backed down.

"Little by little, women are getting their rights but for now there is no�women's movement."