 "Iranian women walk on a street amid the implementation of the new hijab surveillance in Tehran. Reuters file")
Iran is using aerial drones, facial recognition systems and a citizen-reporting app to enforce its draconian and mandatory hijab laws on women. The revelations were made in a report released by the United Nations on Friday. The report points out Iran’s escalating reliance on technology to monitor and punish women defying the mandatory dress code.
One of the key player of this crackdown is the “Nazer” mobile application, which is a government-backed tool that allows citizens and police to report women for alleged violations. The report was published by investigators who were involved in a two-year fact-finding mission in the Middle Eastern nation.
In the report, the United Nations accused Iran of systemic violation of human rights and crimes against humanity. The report slammed authorities for particularly targeting women and girls.
What does the Nazer app do?
According to the report, the “Nazer” mobile application enables users to upload the license plate, location, and time of a vehicle where a woman is not wearing a hijab. The app then goes on to “flag” the vehicle online, alerting the police.
The application also triggers “a text message (in real-time) to the registered owner of the vehicle, warning them that they had been found in violation of the mandatory hijab laws and that their vehicles would be impounded for ignoring these warnings,” the UN report said.
The application is accessible via Iran’s police, abbreviated as (FARAJA) website and expanded its operation in September 2024. The report said that the app is frequently used to target women in ambulances, taxis, and public transport.
Apart from this, the report noted that Authorities have also deployed “aerial drones” in the capital Tehran and southern Iran to surveil public spaces and “to monitor hijab compliance in public spaces.”
Impact Shorts
More ShortsIn addition, they are also using new facial recognition software reportedly installed in early 2024 “at the entrance gate of the Amirkabir University in Tehran, to monitor such compliance by women students.”
UN recalled that hundreds of people were killed in protests in 2022, against Iran’s mandatory hijab law and political and social issues following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality police in September of that year. The Iranian authorities are yet to comment on the report.