Iran's hardliners employ female 'hijab enforcers' to spy on bare-headed women and bundle them into vans for interrogation in new crackdown

Iran's hardliners have employed female 'hijab enforcers' to spy on bare-headed women and bundle them into vans for interrogation amid a new crackdown. 

The new enforcers, dressed in black from head to toe, have been ordered to stand on the streets of cities in Iran over the past three weeks, patrolling cafes, restaurants, supermarkets, metro stations and universities. 

It comes after a number of recent videos showed officials stalking the streets of Iran looking for women in breach of the Islamic Republic's dress code laws, with one clip showing a woman being bundled into the back of a white van. 

Women discovered without a headscarf on, or found to be wearing fitted trousers, are approached and sent to the morality police. Then, patrol locations are decided and assigned to the enforcers by the Iranian authorities. 

The crackdown follows protests that swept the country in 2022 after the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, who was arrested by the morality police for wearing her headscarf 'improperly'. 

Footage shows an Iranian 'hijab enforcer' confronting women for wearing fitted trousers 

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

Amini went into a coma after being arrested in Tehran and died while she was in police custody in hospital.

Her father has said she had bruises on her legs, and held police responsible for her death.

Zahra, one of the women enforcers in her late 30s, told The Telegraph: 'We are the most part of implementing chastity in Iran and I am proud of it.'

She added: 'We should intimidate [women] so they stop going out as if it's Paris or London.'

Zahra was reportedly recruited in late March by the 'Basij of Sisters' and ordered to be prepared for a 'major operation' against women. 

Iran's hardliners have long tried to control how women dress, with Zahra explaining that women not dressing correctly shows 'disrespect' to the religion and law of Iran. 

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

Iranian women burned hijabs in protest over the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022 

People are pictured burning the Iranian flag in after the death of the 22-year-old Amini

In one video posted online, a mother tries to stop her daughter from being arrested, adding: 'She is my daughter, and it's none of your business!'   

Zahra works full time, receiving 6 million rials (£8) for a six-hour long shift - more than 50 per cent higher than the minimum wage in Iran. 

'I am aware of the mistreatment [women] face in detention, and it's justified given their actions,' said Zahra. 

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.

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.