How Iran Is Using Drones And Apps To Enforce Women’s Dress Code

Iran is leveraging drones, surveillance cameras, and intrusive digital technology to suppress dissent—particularly among women who refuse to comply with the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code, according to a new report by the United Nations.

Drones and Cameras to Monitor Hijab Compliance

Investigators from the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran have found that Iranian security officials are employing a strategy of “state-sponsored vigilantism.” This approach encourages private individuals to use specialized mobile applications to report women for alleged dress code violations in public and private vehicles, including taxis and ambulances.

The report highlights the increasing use of advanced surveillance methods in cities like Tehran and in southern regions of Iran. Security forces are deploying drones and security cameras to enforce hijab laws and identify non-compliant women.

For those who defy these regulations or protest against them, the consequences are severe—arrests, physical assault, and even sexual violence in custody.

Continued Suppression in Iran

The UN’s findings follow its determination last year that Iran’s theocratic government was responsible for the “physical violence” that led to the 2022 death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman. Witnesses reported that Amini was severely beaten by Iran’s morality police upon her arrest, though authorities claimed she died from “sudden heart failure.”

Her death ignited a massive wave of protests that persist today despite government crackdowns and the looming threat of arrests 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 states.

Public Surveillance and Facial Recognition Technology in Iran

The UN report also reveals that authorities at Tehran’s Amirkabir University have installed facial recognition software at entrance gates to detect and penalize women who do not wear the hijab.

Meanwhile, surveillance cameras on Iran’s major roads are being used to identify women who fail to adhere to dress code regulations.

Investigators uncovered the “Nazer” mobile phone application, which is offered by Iranian police and enables both authorities and vetted civilians to report uncovered women in vehicles, including ambulances, buses, metro cars, and taxis.

“Users may add the location, date, time, and the license plate number of the vehicle in which the alleged mandatory hijab infraction occurred, which then ‘flags’ the vehicle online, alerting the police,” the report details.

Once a report is filed, a text message is sent to the registered owner of the vehicle, notifying them of a violation. If warnings are ignored, the vehicle could be impounded, according to the findings.

Lack of Judicial Independence and Reports of Violence

The UN investigators interviewed nearly 300 victims and witnesses, also examining Iran’s judicial system. They concluded that the system lacks true independence, with victims of torture and other human rights violations facing further persecution. The report notes that families of victims are “systematically intimidated” by state forces.

The findings also document the extrajudicial executions of three child protesters and three adult demonstrators, which Iranian authorities later dismissed as suicides.

The investigation uncovered additional cases of sexual violence in detention centers. One particularly harrowing case involved a detained woman who was brutally beaten, subjected to two mock executions, raped, and then gang-raped by security forces.

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