I've not checked the legitimacy of the photo, but the premise is important to note
I can't find the interview where she speaks in depth about Iran, it was important for the novel because it was a situation where women experienced going from modern equality to having absolutely no rights.
In this interview she briefly mentions Ayatollah Khomeini (the leader of the Iranian Revolution that created a theocracy and removed women's rights), but she's going over dozens of newspaper clippings of other events that inspired the story.