Families And Marriage Guidance Counsellors As Well As Couples Meet When Using New Official Iranian Dating App

Story By: Georgina Jadikovska, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash

The first-ever official dating app which has the support of the Iranian government has been launched, which arranges for potential couples and their families to meet up together to form a “lasting and informed marriage”.

The new dating app called ‘Hamdam’ is free to use and aimed at helping single men find a spouse for life, with the families on both sides invited to meet at the same time as the potential couple, making sure the match is a good one.

It also arranges for councillors to accompany the couple during the matchmaking process, and also to work with them for the first four years of their marriage.

Illustrative image for Tehran in Iran. (Newsflash)

The name of the app comes from the Farsi word for ‘companion’, and should help Iranian youngsters on their quest to find the perfect spouse, according to Iran’s national broadcaster that announced the news on 12th July.

App developers from the Tebyan Cultural Institute claim the app uses “artificial intelligence” to find matches “only for bachelors seeking permanent marriage and a single spouse”.

According to Iran’s cyberspace police chief Colonel Ali Mohammad Rajabi, the app “is the only state-sanctioned platform of its kind in the country”.

Rajabi also emphasised that all other dating apps other than ‘Hamdam’ are illegal despite their popularity growth in recent years.

Head of the Tebyan Cultural Institute, Komeil Khojasteh, expressed his concern that family values were being threatened by outside forces and emphasised that the government-backed app should help create strong “healthy families”.

Khojasteh added: “Family is the devil’s target, and (Iran’s enemies) seek to impose their own ideas.”

Illustrative image for Tehran in Iran. (Newsflash)

According to Hamdam’s manual, after a free registration, users have to undergo identity verification and pass a “psychology test” before browsing.

In addition, after a match is made, the app “introduces families together with the presence of service consultants” who are supposed to “accompany” the couple for four years after marriage.

The unveiling of the app comes after Iran’s conservative-dominated parliament passed a bill titled “population growth and supporting families” in March when officials debated the country’s rising age of marriage and declining birth rates.

The law still awaits approval by the Guardian Council which is now checking whether the bills are in line with the constitution as well as Islamic law.