On Oct. 31, 2004, she approached Movahedi as he waited near her office. “I made up a story that I had gotten engaged and was about to marry. ‘Continue with your life,’ I told him. ‘There is absolutely no hope for us.’ ”

As she returned to her office, he vowed to kill her.

Three days later, on a cold, clear autumn afternoon, Bahrami was walking home through one of Tehran’s busy city parks when someone tapped her on the shoulder. As she turned around, a burning fluid splashed onto her face.

“It felt like my head was stuck in a bowl of boiling water,” Bahrami said. “I bent forward to allow the stuff to drip off my face, but the pain was intolerable. I fell on the pavement, screaming for help.”