Eighty thousand eyes watching the Islamic system, on the path of total surveillance over people's lives and clothing

The Islamic Republic has expanded its total surveillance over people's lives and clothing by appointing eighty thousand public order officers.

The new "Chastity and Hijab Status Room" project demonstrates the systematic expansion of social control, a plan that critics see as another step towards the "Talibanization" of Iranian society.

While Iran is still grappling with the aftermath of the nationwide protests of 1401 and the government murder of Gina (Mahsa) Amini, the authorities of the Islamic Republic have implemented a new plan to expand the scope of control and surveillance over citizens. “Ruhollah Momennasb,” Secretary of the Headquarters for Encouraging Virtue and Preventing Vice in Tehran Province, announced the organization of more than 80,000 forces known as “Encouraging Virtue” and the creation of a structure called the “Chastity and Hijab Situation Room.”

According to Momennasb, the plan will be implemented in cooperation with the prosecutor's office and the FATA police to deal with content producers that the government considers "violating norms" through closer monitoring of cyberspace content and reporting by popular forces. He emphasized that these forces include thousands of educators and judicial officers who will play a "monitoring and reporting" role in schools, universities, public places, and even cyberspace.

Momennasb said: "Our confrontation is completely intelligent, multi-layered, and data-based. With the establishment of the Chastity and Hijab Situation Room, the enemy's actions are monitored and analyzed, and cultural, media, and legal solutions are designed and communicated to the relevant institutions."

These statements come at a time when human rights organizations and civil society activists consider similar plans to be a widespread violation of privacy and human dignity. Experts believe that the Islamic Republic, by using religious language, is institutionalizing organized espionage among citizens, an action that could lead to the spread of social violence and public distrust.

On the other hand, many international observers see the headquarters' stated goal of confronting secularism and social indifference as an attempt to curb individual and cultural freedoms in a society where a large portion of women are no longer willing to accept compulsory hijab.

In recent years, there have been numerous reports of street clashes between so-called rulers and the public. From violent clashes on the subway and in the streets to interference in citizens' clothing or lifestyles. Many of these cases, according to experts, have been examples of the use of religion as a tool to control people's bodies and behavior.

In addition, domestic media have reported that the Imran-e-Maruf Headquarters has taken action to ban the sale of dolls called "Mortaza and Marzieh" in online stores; an action that shows that the scope of surveillance has even extended to the field of children's entertainment.

Christian analysts and human rights observers see this trend as a sign of increasing religious authoritarianism within the Islamic Republic’s structure. In this view, the concept known in Christian theology as the “divine gift of human life” stands in clear conflict with policies that limit human dignity, freedom, and agency.

According to critics, such plans are not only not an "attempt to preserve morality," but also a form of total ideological control over the bodies and minds of citizens; an effort that further stifle the spirit of freedom in a repressed society.