The United Nations published a report on Friday that said Iran is using drones, facial recognition technology, and a snitching app for smartphones to enforce its mandatory head covering law for women.
The report came from the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran, one of several such missions the U.N. maintains for regions with human rights issues. The mission is scheduled to formally present its report to the U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on Tuesday.
“Two and a half years after the ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ protests began in September 2022, the Government of Iran continues to ramp up efforts to restrict the rights of women and girls, and others demanding human rights, as part of a concerted effort to crush dissent,” the report found.
The “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests were also known as the Amini Uprising, as they began with the death of a young Kurdish woman named Mahsa Amini after she was kidnapped by Iran’s infamous “morality police” for allegedly failing to wear her head covering properly during a visit to Tehran.
The semi-official slogan of the uprising became “Woman, Life, Freedom” (“Jin, Jiyan, Azadi” in Kurdish) even though the phrase had been coined at least 20 years earlier to honor Kurdish women who were slain in “honor killings” by male family members.
Iran brutally suppressed the Amini uprising, which grew into possibly the most serious threat to the regime’s power since the 1979 Islamic revolution. Rather than liberalizing, the theocracy became more determined than ever to enforce its misogynistic laws, including the headscarf or hijab law.
“These repressive measures come despite pre-election assurances by the current President Masoud Pezeshkian to ease strict enforcement of mandatory hijab laws. They involve the increased use of technology and surveillance, including through State-sponsored vigilantism, that further infringe upon women and girls’ fundamental rights,” the U.N. fact-finding mission reported.
In April 2024, the Iranian regime implemented a new set of surveillance measures and punishments it referred to as the “Noor Plan.” The U.N. team quoted Iranian human rights groups who said at least 618 women have been arrested under this initiative.
“Women human rights defenders and activists have continued to face criminal sanctions, including fines, lengthy prison sentences, and in some cases the death penalty for peaceful activities in support of human rights,” the report said.
The U.N. mission seemed particularly incensed by Nazer, a smartphone app developed by the Iranian government to snitch on women who violate the myriad of laws and restrictions against them.
Evidently working on the theory that women often violate the hijab law by loosening their headscarves in the privacy of their automobiles, the Nazer app allows users to snap a photo of a woman’s license plate and instantly upload a report to the police. Within a matter of moments, the owner of the vehicle in question receives a text message that says their vehicle could be impounded because a woman violated the hijab law while riding in it.
The functionality of the Nazer app was upgraded in September 2024 so that women riding in ambulances, taxis, and public transportation could be easily reported for violating the hijab law.
The U.N. fact-finding mission denounced Iran for using “state-sponsored vigilantism” to enforce “systemic discrimination” against women, and for using intrusive technology to monitor them during every moment of their lives, including drones and CCTV cameras.
Women were not the only victims of persecution by the Iranian theocracy. The U.N. mission denounced Iran for raping and torturing prisoners, oppressing human rights activists and journalists, and intimidating the families of those victimized by the regime into silence. Iran is also increasingly invested in transnational repression, terrorizing dissidents living far beyond its borders.
The mission said Iran makes “little or no distinction between adult and child” when it comes to suppressing protests and punishing dissidents. Children have also been subjected to “unlawful use of force, torture, and a range of fair trial violations.”
The fact-finding mission said some of the Iranian government’s offenses fell into the category of “crimes against humanity.”
“Although it is the Government of Iran’s primary duty to provide redress to victims, we have heard from countless victims and survivors that they have neither confidence nor trust in Iran’s judicial and legal system to provide meaningful truth, justice, and reparations,” said mission expert Shaheen Sardar.
“It is therefore imperative that comprehensive accountability measures also continue to be pursued outside the country,” Sardar urged.
“Given the gravity of the violations in the country and the serious risk of recurring violence against those who express dissent or challenge the State and its policies, it is crucial for the Human Rights Council to continue supporting the victims in their search for redress and non-repetition,” said Viviana Krsticevic, another mission expert.
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