Key Points:
- Iran deploys advanced technology including drones, facial recognition, and ‘Nazar’ app to enforce compulsory hijab
- ‘Nazar’ app enables citizens to report women violating hijab rules in vehicles
- Surveillance raises serious privacy and human rights concerns globally
- Strict measures follow widespread protests sparked by Mahsa Amini’s death in 2022
- International community expresses alarm over increasing digital surveillance and state-sponsored vigilantism
Tehran: Amid ongoing tensions surrounding compulsory hijab laws, Iran’s government has significantly intensified surveillance measures, employing advanced technologies such as drones, facial recognition systems, and citizen-reporting mobile apps to strictly enforce dress code regulations on women.
A recent United Nations report highlights the Iranian regime’s growing reliance on sophisticated electronic surveillance tools to monitor women’s compliance with mandatory hijab laws. Central to this controversial strategy is the mobile app named “Nazar,” which enables ordinary citizens to actively participate in reporting alleged hijab violations.
How Does the ‘Nazar’ App Work?
The ‘Nazar’ app allows any citizen witnessing a woman without a hijab in public vehicles—including buses, taxis, metros, or ambulances—to anonymously report the incident directly to authorities. Users simply enter details such as vehicle number, location, date, and time into the app. This information immediately alerts police authorities, who then send automated warnings via text messages to vehicle owners. Repeated violations could lead authorities to confiscate the reported vehicle.
The introduction of this app has effectively turned ordinary citizens into government informants, raising serious concerns about privacy violations and state-sponsored vigilantism. The Iranian government promotes this practice as a “civic responsibility,” further intensifying social pressure on women.
Facial Recognition and Drone Surveillance
In addition to the controversial “Nazar” app, Iran has installed facial recognition cameras at prominent educational institutions like Tehran’s Amirkabir University. These cameras identify female students who fail to comply with mandatory hijab regulations. Aerial drones are also actively deployed in Tehran and other major cities across southern Iran to monitor public spaces for hijab compliance.
This unprecedented level of technological surveillance has sparked widespread criticism from human rights organizations globally. Experts warn that such invasive monitoring severely infringes upon basic rights to privacy and personal freedom.
Background: Protests and Resistance
Iran’s aggressive push for digital surveillance comes amid persistent nationwide protests against compulsory hijab laws following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in September 2022. Mahsa died under suspicious circumstances while in custody of Iran’s morality police for allegedly wearing her hijab improperly. Her death triggered massive nationwide demonstrations under the slogan “Women, Life, Freedom,” marking one of the most significant challenges faced by Iran’s clerical regime since its establishment in 1979.
Despite harsh crackdowns resulting in hundreds of deaths and thousands arrested or imprisoned, Iranian women continue their defiance against mandatory veiling laws through peaceful acts of civil disobedience.
Growing Concerns Over Human Rights Violations
Human rights organizations have expressed alarm over Iran’s escalating use of surveillance technology and public vigilantism as tools for oppression. The UN report underscores that these practices severely infringe upon individual privacy rights and freedoms, effectively turning ordinary citizens into informants against their neighbors.
Iranian authorities have justified these measures by framing compliance with hijab rules as a civic responsibility. However, critics argue that such actions deepen societal divisions and perpetuate systemic discrimination against women.
Despite international condemnation and internal protests demanding greater freedoms for Iranian women, Tehran continues its hardline stance on mandatory veiling laws. Proposed legislation known as the “Hijab and Chastity Bill,” temporarily paused after internal debate last year, threatens severe penalties including lengthy prison sentences and heavy fines for non-compliance.
As digital surveillance tightens its grip on Iranian society, women’s rights activists vow to continue their resistance against oppressive laws. The ongoing struggle highlights a critical juncture whether increased technological repression will silence dissent or fuel further demands for freedom remains uncertain.
