Inside one Tehran coffee shop, a young, veiled Iranian woman held her fiancé's hand tightly as the seconds ticked down in Iran's heart-stopping World Cup match against South American powerhouse Argentina.

 

Another woman gently bit her French-manicured（修剪） nails as she sat between two male friends who were drenched¹ with nervous sweat and fast losing their voices.

 

Throughout the rest of the cafe other women intermittently² cheered, gasped³, and shouted instructions at the direction of the big screen TV.

 

"100 percent it's better this way," said Negar Valayi. "It doesn't happen often. It would be great if we have more of this."

 

"It's actually much better to watch it with a bunch of people around because it makes you feel more excited," said Roya Marzbahan.

 

Authorities in Iran banned women from entering most sporting events following the 1979 Islamic Revolution because mixed crowds enjoying games was deemed un-Islamic.

 

For the past 35 years, the crowds at football games -- Iran's most popular sport -- have been all male.

 

Iranian women were briefly⁴ allowed to attend volleyball matches during the presidency⁵ of moderate Mohammad Khatami but the ban was reinstated in 2005 when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to power.

 

In an apparent effort to avoid mixed crowds watching this year's World Cup, authorities warned restaurants not to broadcast games.

 

"We were told not to turn on the TV because it might create some problems," a restaurant hostess told CNN on the phone.

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