• In complete secrecy, Iranian authorities bought FindFace, a Russian facial recognition software, in 2019, as confirmed by contracts obtained by Forbidden Stories and its partners.
• FindFace can identify faces in public spaces in a matter of seconds and run them through databases maintained by the regime's security services.
• The Iranian security apparatus is attempting to conceal this acquisition with shell companies.
• Several security agencies are involved, including the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps and the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence.

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[An investigation] reveals the Iranian regime’s widespread use of a particularly powerful Russian facial recognition software ... This software has potentially devastating consequences for people who want to take to the streets again.

During the recent protests, Iranians suspected that the authorities had such a repressive tool at their disposal, as evidenced by several similar videos from Iran. In one of them, a hooded man dressed in black climbs a pole and strikes a surveillance camera perched several metres above the ground. It falls to pieces. Below, a crowd of demonstrators cheers the climber on [you'll see video about it in the linked article].

The women and men behind these brave acts of sabotage conceal their faces with surgical masks, scarves, or hoods — for good reason. In the summer of 2022, the Iranian authorities announced the use of facial recognition in public spaces, particularly to monitor women’s attire.

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In December 2023, a journalist from Khorasan, a media outlet with close ties to the government, posted a photo on Instagram of a control screen from the subway’s surveillance camera network in Mashhad, the second most populous city in Iran, with more than 3 million inhabitants, and a holy site for Shia Muslims.

“Photos of everyone passing in front of these cameras are displayed on large screens along with their age and gender. Can the municipality explain the purpose of this?” he wrote, not providing any other information.

On March 14, 2025, the UN Independent International Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran published a report condemning the “far-reaching use of technology to restrict freedom of expression.” The report also cited “new facial recognition software [that] was reportedly installed in April 2024 at the entrance gate of the Amirkabir University of Technology in Tehran.”

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Using an image of a face captured on the subway platform in Tehran or Mashhad, authorities equipped with the Iranian version of FindFace can compile lists of each targeted individual’s dozens of relatives. Called “interaction tracking” by the Russian company, Iranian officials kept the function.

“This system not only detects their faces and movements, but also creates a ‘social map’ of their friends and relationships, along with other information such as license plates,” said Nima Fatemi, founder of Kandoo, an NGO working on cybersecurity for vulnerable populations, after consulting the confidential documents. “It allows you to track the targeted person’s movements and monitor everyone, everywhere. It is a centralized tool for learning who is who and how individuals are connected.”

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FindFace was developed by the Russian company Ntechlab, founded in 2015. Through the holding company Rostec, Ntechlab sits at the heart of Russia’s military-industrial and technological apparatus. Rostec “reports to the Ministry of Defense and is headed by Mr. Chemesov, a close associate of Vladimir Putin,” according to Julien Nocetti, a researcher at the Center for Analysis, Forecasting, and Strategy at the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and specialist in Russia and digital technology. NtechLab has become a veritable “national technology laboratory” since the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, according to Nocetti. After the large-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Rostec became directly attached to the presidential administration. Ntechlab was sanctioned by the EU in July 2023 for “serious human rights violations in Russia” and blacklisted by the US in December 2024 for actions “contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States.” But the company continues to promote its products, such as FindFace, which is notably used to track independent journalists and supporters of Alexei Navalny, Putin's former main opponent. In July 2022, Business Insider revealed that NtechLab had more than 1,100 clients in more than 60 countries, including major Western companies and “government agencies.” Today, the company reports it has sold FindFace and other products to “400 major customers” in 34 different countries. But the Islamic Republic of Iran is missing from the company’s website.

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