This footage was filmed and produced 23 July 2021.
To many, the idea of finding a spouse through an app that doesn’t even display an image of the other person may be farfetched, but Iran’s new “Hamdam” dating app aims to turn this idea into a reality. The new platform was brought to life by Tebyan institution, a subsidiary of Iran’s Islamic Propaganda Organization, and has rigorous rules that its creators claim are put in place to prevent fraud and misuse.

In the Islamic world, where casual intimacy between unacquainted men and women is generally frowned upon, a conventional dating app such as Tinder or Bumble is unacceptable. This is why Hamdam is different in its approach.

Firstly, user information is verified through a check with the bureau of registration and if needed, the user will be contacted for further verification. Upon successful registration, the user will then take a quiz designed to match them specifically with suitors close to their preferences.

The app is a novel way for the Iranian government to facilitate marriage. Iran’s Ever since Iran’s successful family planning programs in the late 20th century led to a lower birth rate which is now beginning to affect the population and the country is promoting marriages and childbearing once again. Continued economic problems and sanctions in the country greatly discourage marriages and make family creation difficult.

Interviews in order of appearance:

Matin Afzali, Iranian vendor
Question: Do you think the Hamdam application is compatible with Iranian culture or not? What are some reasons people may or may not use the application?
“We can’t say it’s incompatible with Iranian culture. Such a thing might be very close to our past culture, but with our current situation, online spouse-finding exists in similar foreign apps that are in Iran through which you find friends and some end in marriages of which 90% become problematic in the future.”

Ms. Mousavi, Iranian woman
Question: Do you think a dating application like Hamdam can be successful in Iran?
“It seems like this wants to question women’s dignity. It’s not a very good thing for a woman to want to introduce herself, because from the things I have seen before, I remember listings of women’s heights and weights. This seems like a sort of insult to a woman in my opinion.”

Danial Ghorabi, Iranian chef
Question: Why do you think there are so many single women in Iran and why don’t they get married?
“The reason is the unavailability of jobs, the high cost of living in the country. These problems cause many marriages to fall apart and as a young person, when I see these problems I become fearful of taking any step toward marriage.”

Matin, Iranian teenager
Question: Do you think such a dating method can be successful in Iran?
“Our youth will stop using foreign applications such as Tinder, and if they do they will have to use VPNs. I think if this culture is created it can be suitable and good.”
Question: Would you yourself be willing to find a spouse through an online platform?
“I myself am do not agree with the traditional method of finding a spouse at all where the family chooses a spouse for someone because the share of a person’s say in finding their own spouse greatly decreases, but I think this method [online dating] is better than a traditional method for finding a spouse. Each have their own benefits; I prefer this method.”

Atefeh Khani, Iranian woman
Question: Do you think such a dating method can be successful in Iran?
“I’m not saying I don’t accept such an application, because I do. I just don’t accept it in a country like Iran because the culture has not been normalized for, I don’t want to say anyone I don’t want to be misconstrued, but it hasn’t been normalized for every person because the people of our country mostly misuse this matter and they don’t deal with it rationally.”
Question: Why do you think there are so many single women in Iran and why they don’t get married?
“In my opinion, the most important reason is fiscal financial problems and unemployment and such things because not everyone can accept the responsibility of a family.”
Question: How prevalent has online dating become in Iran in your opinion?
“I think about 80% of meetings are virtual and only 20% are traditional. Traditional meets have decreased dramatically compared to before. Maybe 50% are satisfied and 50% are not, because divorce rates have risen in Iran.”

Ghazaleh Saleh Abadi, Iranian makeup artist
Question: Have you heard of the Hamdam application and online dating and do you think this method will be successful in Iran?
“I have heard of it but I don’t know anything about its success because it has happened recently, but it’s something like old times where we would choose suitors from abroad who would offer to become acquainted over phone and they would get married. This application is acquainting people with each other. If you are realistic you will go, see, and spend time for one another. If the suitor is good, why not?”
Question: Have any of your relatives or people you know met through social media and online platforms?
“Yes, one of my relatives met someone in Instagram within the past year, although both of them are very cultured and they met each other and spent time together and got engaged after 6 months. Now, we don’t know the rest but we wish them a happy future.”

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Speaker of the Islamic Parliament
“The Hamdam platform means we are children of our own era.Today, many problems exist for marriage. Cultural problems, economic problems, behavioral problems. Many of them.”