Iran acquired facial recognition technology through a Russian company
Spontaneous celebrations took place in Tehran and other cities in Iran following reports of the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. State media gave little coverage to these events, but they were captured on surveillance cameras. The surveillance system is one of the key components of the control mechanism used by the authorities.
Statements by Iranian officials and leaked documents in previous years indicated the authorities' interest in facial recognition technology. Until recently, there was no confirmation that such systems had actually been purchased.
Documents from Russian and Iranian companies show that in 2020 and 2021, state structures and related organisations gained access to FindFace software. This system was developed by the Russian company NtechLab, which is under sanctions from Western countries. The investigation was coordinated by Forbidden Stories, together with partners Le Monde, Papertrail Media, Der Spiegel and ZDF, with the participation of The Signals Network.
In August 2019, the Iranian company Rasadco purchased FindFace software. That same year, Rasadco became part of the larger company Kama, which subsequently sold this software to various Iranian entities.
A document reviewed by journalists shows that Kama is headed by a person associated with the Iranian government and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The company's clients include entities associated with this military-ideological formation, as well as the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence.
NtechLab was founded in 2015 and operates in the field of surveillance technology. It is linked to the Russian state-owned conglomerate Rostec. Its main product, FindFace, was used during the 2018 World Cup in Russia and is also used by police and security services in various regions of the country, as well as in shopping centres and amusement parks.
Since 2023, NtechLab has been under European Union sanctions for providing technical support to surveillance systems used to persecute independent journalists, supporters of Alexei Navalny, and opponents of the war against Ukraine. For the same reasons, the company has been added to the sanctions list by the United States.
Contracts signed by Kama in 2020–2022 indicate the involvement of a number of Iranian clients. These include Sherif University in Tehran and the Mashhad authorities. Two companies signed the largest contracts for the purchase of FindFace, worth four billion rials and nine billion rials. In the documents, they are referred to by the abbreviation BPO and may be structures used to conclude contracts.
The contracts also mention Samaneh Gostar Amin. This entity is linked to Zaeem Technology Development Company, which has previously been identified as a technology supplier to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other government agencies. The companies, the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Mashhad municipality did not respond to journalists' inquiries.
Digital security experts believe that facial recognition technology gives the authorities new opportunities to identify protesters. According to researcher Nima Fatemi, the system allows video footage from surveillance cameras or social networks to be collected and used later to identify individuals.
Facial recognition technology is only part of a broader surveillance system that includes a network of informants, drones, surveillance cameras, and internet filtering. Experts note that the authorities also have large databases of photographs collected during the issuance of passports or driver's licences.
Documents show that the development and implementation of such systems is entrusted to companies associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. According to journalists' interlocutors, it is these structures that determine the technological directions of development.
Despite developers' claims of high accuracy, facial recognition technology is not infallible. Researchers note that it can produce errors when processing low-quality images or video from surveillance cameras.
