Iran Using Drones And Mobile Apps To Track Whether Women Are Wearing Hijab Or Not

Last Updated:March 15, 2025, 17:36 IST

Iran is reportedly using a mobile phone app called 'Nazer', which allows the public to report women who are not wearing a hijab in vehicles

Authorities have also installed facial recognition software at Tehran's Amirkabir University to identify women not wearing the hijab. (AFP file photo)

Iran is reportedly using a mobile phone app called ‘Nazer‘, which allows the public to report women who are not wearing a hijab in vehicles. This includes ambulances, buses, metro cars, and taxis.

A 20-page report released by the United Nations on Friday highlighted Iran’s increasing reliance on electronic surveillance and the public to inform on women who refuse to wear the country’s mandatory headscarf in public.

According to the UN report, users of the ‘Nazer’ app can submit details such as the location, date, time, and the license plate number of the vehicle in which the alleged hijab violation occurred. This information flags the vehicle online and alerts the police.

The app then triggers a real-time text message to the registered owner of the vehicle, warning them that they have been found in violation of the mandatory hijab laws. The message informs them that their vehicle could be impounded for ignoring these warnings, according to the UN’s findings.

The report also revealed that authorities have installed facial recognition software at Tehran’s Amirkabir University to identify women not wearing the hijab. Surveillance cameras on major roadways in Iran are also thought to be used to search for women who are not adhering to the hijab law.

These findings come from the Independent Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran, following its investigation into the death of Mahsa Amini last year. Amini’s death sparked widespread protests against the mandatory hijab law, with defiance continuing despite the threat of violent arrest and imprisonment.

“Two and a half years after the protests began in September 2022, women and girls in Iran continue to face systematic discrimination, in law and in practice, that permeates all aspects of their lives, particularly with respect to the enforcement of the mandatory hijab," the report said.

The report further stressed that Iran is increasingly relying on state-sponsored vigilantism, encouraging businesses and private citizens to enforce hijab compliance, presenting it as a civic duty.

(With inputs from agencies)

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