Iranian authorities have launched a dating app in a bid to encourage marriages in the country and help young people find a spouse for themselves.
According to the state-controlled television in Teheran, Iran has introduced a Muslim dating application, “Hamdam” – Farsi for “companion” – the service allows users to “search for and choose their spouse.
It is the only state-sanctioned platform of its kind in the Islamic republic, according to Iran’s cyberspace police chief, Colonel Ali Mohammad Rajabi. He said dating apps are popular in Iran and all other platforms apart from Hamdam are illegal.
Developed by the government’s Tebyan Cultural Institute, Hamdam´s website claims it uses “artificial intelligence” to find matches “only for bachelors seeking permanent marriage and a single spouse”.
“Family is the devil’s target, and (Iran’s enemies) seek to impose their own ideas” on it, he said, adding that the app helps create “healthy” families.
According to Hamdam’s website, users have to verify their identity and go through a “psychology test” before browsing. When a match is made, the app “introduces the families together with the presence of service consultants.
Registration is free, as Hamdam has “an independent revenue model,” the website said without explaining further. Iran’s authorities, including the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have expressed concerns many a times against the country’s rising age of marriage and declining birth rates.
