Iranian government installs cameras in public places to identify and punish women without headscarves

In a new attempt to control the growing number of women defying the mandatory dress code, Iranian authorities are installing cameras in public places and roads to identify and penalize women without a headscarf, police announced on Saturday (8).

Once identified, offenders will receive “warning text messages about consequences,” police said in a statement.

The movement aims to “prevent resistance against the hijab law”, says the note released by the Mizan news agency, the judiciary and other state media, adding that such resistance tarnishes the country’s spiritual image and spreads insecurity.

A growing number of Iranian women have been shedding their veils since the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman in the custody of the morality police last September.

Mahsa Amini had been detained for alleged violation of hijab law. Security forces violently put down the uprising.

Still, risking jail time for defying the mandatory dress code, women are still seen widely unveiled in malls, restaurants, stores and streets across the country. Videos of veiled women resisting the morality police flooded social media.

Saturday’s police statement urged business owners to “seriously monitor compliance with societal norms with their diligent inspections”.

Under Iran’s Islamic law, imposed after the 1979 revolution, women are required to cover their hair and wear long, loose clothing. Violators have faced public reprimand, fines or imprisonment.

Describing the headscarf as “one of the civilizational foundations of the Iranian nation” and “one of the practical principles of the Islamic Republic”, the Interior Ministry stated on March 30 that there would be no retreat on the issue.

In the communiqué, the folder urged citizens to face the unveiled women. Such guidelines have in recent decades encouraged hardliners to attack women.

Last week, a viral video showed a man throwing yogurt at two unveiled women in a store.