Iran installs cameras to find women not wearing hijab
Published 8 hours ago
Image caption,
Iranian women walk past a cleric in a street, in Tehran, Iran, 19 September 2022
Iranian authorities have begun installing cameras in public places to identify unveiled women, the police have announced.
Identified women will receive a text about the consequences of not covering their hair with a hijab, police said.
This would help prevent "resistance against the hijab law", police said.
Protests were sparked last year by the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman arrested for allegedly violating the hijab rule.
Since Ms Amini's death a growing number of women have been discarding their veils, particularly in larger cities, despite the risk of arrest.
A police statement published by the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency said the system used so-called "smart" cameras and other tools to identify and send "documents and warning messages to the violators of the hijab law".
Women have been legally required to cover their hair with a hijab (headscarf) since the 1979 Islamic Revolution installed a strict interpretation of religious law. Women who violate the law face fines or arrest.
Saturday's police statement described the veil as "one of the civilizational foundations of the Iranian nation" and urged business owners to uphold the rules through "diligent inspections".
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-65220595
