Iran's violent new hijab crackdown is caught on camera with women bundled into vans by 'morality police' and victims claiming they have been brutally beaten and sexually assaulted

Iran's so-called 'morality police' have intensified their enforcement of the country's draconian hijab restrictions in several cities over the past week.

A number of videos have shown the officials stalking the streets looking for women in breach of the Islamic Republic's dress code laws, and in one clip are seen grappling with a woman before bundling her into the back of a white van.

The crackdown on women across Iran follows Tehran announcing the 'Nour Project', according to the Jerusalem Post, which is aimed at 'dealing with anomalies.'

This has resulted in the heavy presence of the country's Guidance Patrol, aka the morality police - its Islamic police and vice squad - in several cities.

Police have been instructed to focus on 'positive behaviours' and avoid using 'negative behaviours,' according to Iran's Mehr News Agency.

However, the Jerusalem Post's report suggests that the crackdown has been violent.

Iran 's morality police have intensified their enforcement of the country's draconian hijab restrictions in several cities over the past week, with footage (pictured) emerging from the country of officers rounding up women and bundling them into white vans

Suspected morality police are seen having stern words with a woman on the street before leading her over a van - despite the fact that she appears to be wearing a hijab

It says there have been reports from the country of sexual harassment, beatings, widespread arrests, the breaking of windows and the use of tasers.

Iran's crackdown also comes just a week after Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said that wearing the hijab was of the 'utmost importance,' the publication says.

He also accused foreigners in the country of 'hiring' women not to wear the hijab. 

At least two separate clips have emerged from Iran showing police enforcing the country's dystopian laws against women.

In one video overlooking a tree-lined street, shared on social media, a woman is seen struggling against several morality police officers wearing yellow high-vis jackets.

The woman's hair can be seen in the clip - showing that she is not wearing a hjijab - as the police grab and drag her into the back of an unmarked white van.

It appears that in addition the male police officers, a female official - fully covered in long black robes - is also involved in the arrest.

The police are then seen having stern words with another woman who appears to have taken issue with the way the morality police handled the first woman.

She also is then seen being walked over to the white van, although it is not clear from the clip whether she was also detained.

The clip was shared by Masih Alinejad, an Iranian dissident journalist and activist who is based in the UK.

'Brutal crackdown signals renewal of war against women in Iran,' she wrote on X.

This clip, shared by Masih Alinejad, an Iranian journalist and activist, appears to show the inside of one of the vans used by the morality police to detain women

From the inside of the van this time, a woman is seen being pushed inside, where other people are waiting. Some appear to be other detainees, with one person covertly filming despite being told to put their phone away

Several of the clips were shared by Masih Alinejad (pictured), an Iranian dissident journalist and activist who is based in Britain

'Look at how the Hijab Police savagely arrest an unarmed woman simply because she hasn't covered her hair, dragging her into a police van. 

'This order came after the leader of the Islamic Republic, [Khamenei], instructed the police in Iran to enforce hijab on women at any cost.'

In a second clip, this time at night, another white van is seen parked on the street.

Again, a woman is seen being put int the back of the white van by black-clad people, as a small crowd gathers around to watch. 

A third clip, also shared by Ms Alinejad, appeared to show the inside of one of the vans used by the morality police.

From the inside of the van this time, a woman is seen being pushed inside, where other people are waiting. Some appear to be other detainees, with one person covertly filming despite being told to put their phone away.

'What are you pushing me?' the woman asks. She appears to be wearing a hijab.

'If you don't listen to me you will be taken to the station,' one of the officials warns.

One of the women tells them: 'I have an exam tomorrow.' Another says she also has an exam, but 'now'. 'What if I fail?' she asks. Another women is heard telling her: 'Don't shed any tears. They don't deserve our tears.

'They say they will let us go' one says. 'No they won't,' another replies. 

'This is what the inside of a morality police van looks like, where they kidnap women for not wearing the hijab,' Alinejad wrote on X along with the video.

'These days in Iran, the Islamic Republic is using the cover of tensions with Israel to renew its war against women,' she adds - pointing to the recent flare up between the two countries following Iran's weekend missile blitz against the Jewish State.

In yet another clip, also shared by Alinejad, a woman appears to be having a fit on a pavement as a crowd gathers around her - her hair spread over the floor.

The journalist wrote that a 'confrontation with Morality Police leads to a woman'’s breakdown over hijab enforcement in Tajrish, Tehran. 

'She's assaulted and rushed to the hospital. The person who filmed this terrifying attack on her says that police arrested some who were filming.'

In yet another clip, also shared by Alinejad, a woman appears to be having a fit on a pavement as a crowd gathers around her - her hair spread over the floor

The journalist wrote that a 'confrontation with Morality Police leads to a woman'’s breakdown over hijab enforcement in Tajrish, Tehran

Several reports of arrests have emerged from Iran in recent days.

Dina Ghalibaf, a journalist and student in Tehran, was arrested on Tuesday. According to the Jerusalem Post, this was after she posted on X saying she had been detained and sexually assaulted by 'Morality Police' in the city earlier in the week.

In a post on Monday, she said officers violently detained her and tased her while she was trying to enter the capital's Sadeghiyeh metro station.

One of the officers, she said, also made insulting comments about women and specifically Mahsa Amini - a 22-year-old woman who, in September 2022, died in custody after being arrested for allegedly violating the Islamic dress code.

Amini's death unleashed months of mass protests across Iran, and marked the biggest challenge to Iran's clerical leaders in decades. 

According to reports, more than 500 people were killed as the Tehran regime fought back against the protesters, who gained support from around the world.

After her posts on social media, Ghalibaf is reported to have been taken from her home to an unknown location. Her X account was also suspended.

The wife and daughter of Iranian football player Ahmadreza Abedzadeh were also arrested in Tehran for allegedly breaching the hijab laws, Iranian Fars News Agency reported.

Iranian media claimed the pair were 'causing tensions and clashing with officers.'

The death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish Iranian woman, in September 2022 while in custody for allegedly violating the Islamic dress code unleashed months of mass protests across Iran. Her death marked the biggest challenge to Iran's clerical leaders in decades

In this file image posted on Twitter reportedly on October 26, 2022, an unveiled woman is seen standing on top of a vehicle as thousands make their way towards Saqez, Mahsa Amini's home town in the western province of Kurdistan, to mark 40 days since her death

Abedzadeh had expressed some support for the protests that broke out in the wake of Amini's death 18 months ago.

Referencing the renewed crackdown in a separate tweet, Masih Alinejad called on Iranian people to 'stand against this silent war against Iranian women'.

'I call on international community and the global feminist movement to urgently respond to the escalating crisis in Iran, where women are enduring relentless persecution by the morality police,' she wrote.

'Women are being subjected to beatings and sexual harassment simply for not wearing hijabs. This started on Saturday right after Ali Khamenei ordered the police to impose hijab on women at any cost,' she continued.

'When they say "at any cost," it means police can easily kill women for not wearing hijab, the way they did killed [Mahsa Amini]. Demand action now to support Iranian women who stand alone against the regime's violence in Iran.'

Last month, a fact-finding mission mandated by the United Nations said the death of Ms Amini in custody of Iran's morality police was 'unlawful' and caused by violence and that women in the country remain subjected to wide-ranging discrimination. 

'Our investigation established that her death was unlawful and caused by physical violence in the custody of state authorities,' Sara Hossain, chairperson of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

She said the protests that followed were marked by 'egregious human rights violations', including extra-judicial executions, arbitrary arrests, torture and ill-treatment, as well as rape and sexual violence.

'These acts were conducted in the context of a widespread and systematic attack against women and girls, and other persons expressing support for human rights,' Hossain said.

Iran's crackdown comes just a week after Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said that wearing the hijab was of the 'utmost importance,' the publication says

'Some of these serious violations of human rights thus rose to the level of crimes against humanity.'

In response, Kazem Gharib Abadi, secretary general of Iran's High Council for Human Rights, accused the fact-finding mission of a 'glaring lack of independence and impartiality'.

Hossain said that since the protests, women and girls in Iran were confronted daily by discrimination 'affecting virtually all aspects of their private and public lives'.

'It is hard to fathom that in the 21st century, women's access to the most basic service and opportunities, such as schools, universities, hospitals, and courts, or to opportunities for employment in government or other sectors, should be subjected to a wholly arbitrary requirement of wearing the mandatory hijab,' she said.