Iran is using facial recognition cameras to enforce new hijab laws to crack down on women who don’t cover up

Iranian authorities plan to use facial recognition cameras to spot women defying tough new hijab-wearing laws.

The chilling crackdown will see women refusing to cover up being tracked down using biometric technology on CCTV in public places.

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As laws on wearing the hijab become stricter, officials have said surveillance camera footage from places like subways and public transport is being used to punish women who don’t comply.

The hijab – a head covering worn by Muslim women – became compulsory for women and girls over the age of nine in Iran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iran’s Headquarters for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, Secretary Mohammad Saleh Hashemi Golpayegani, has now revealed the government’s extreme plans to use facial recognition technology.

It comes after the country’s hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi signed a new decree to impose even more restrictions on women’s clothing, RFERL reports.

Golpayegani said new orders would see fines imposed on those who break rules.

He also said women government employees would be fired if their social media images did not comply with Islamic law.

New rules also state that women who post photos online without a hijab will have many social rights revoked for up to a year.

The crackdown is understood to have seen women banned from government offices, banks and even public transport in recent months as “morality” police become more active.

Officers were reportedly seen arresting women for breaking dress codes by forcing them into vans.

In July, Iranian artist Sepideh Rashno was arrested after video of a confrontation between her and an enforcer went viral.

The 28-year-old was on a bus without a headscarf when another woman challenged her for not wearing one.

She began filming Sepideh to uncover her identity before threatening to report her.

Bystanders had to intervene on Sepideh’s behalf when the altercation turned violent and Sepideh was left in the hospital with internal bleeding.

The enforcer was eventually pushed off the bus – but Sepideh was arrested after the video went viral and, according to human rights group Hrana, she was beaten and forced to apologize.

According to Article 638 of the Islamic Penal Code, a woman’s refusal to wear hijab in public is an offense punishable by flogging, imprisonment or a fine.

Jasmin Ramsey, Deputy Director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran, said: “The only ‘crime’ Sepideh Rashnoo committed was trying to be a woman in Iran on her own terms.

“By refusing to comply with the state’s compulsory hijab law, she refused to be a second-class citizen.

“The message hasn’t changed since the 1979 revolution: anyone who opposes us, especially women, will be beaten into submission.”

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