Iranian competitive climber Elnaz Rekabi received a hero's welcome on her return to Tehran today, after competing in South Korea without wearing a mandatory headscarf required of female athletes from the Islamic Republic.
Rekabi's decision not to wear the hijab while competing Sunday came as protests sparked by the September 16 death in custody of a 22-year-old woman have entered the fifth week. Mahsa Amini was detained by the country’s morality police over her clothing — and her death has seen women removing their mandatory hijabs in public.
The demonstrations, drawing school-age children, oil workers and others to the street in over 100 cities, represent the most serious challenge to Iran’s theocracy since the mass protests surrounding its disputed 2009 presidential election.
Supporters and Farsi-language media outside of Iran have worried about Rekabi's safety after she chose to compete without the hijab.
Rekabi today repeated an explanation posted earlier to an Instagram account in her name that described her not wearing a hijab as “unintentional." The Iranian government routinely pressures activists at home and abroad, often airing what rights groups describe as coerced confessions on state television — the same cameras she addressed on her arrival back home.
Video shared online showed large crowds gathered at Imam Khomeini International Airport outside of Tehran, the sanctioned nation's main gateway out of the country. The videos, corresponding to known features of the airport, showed crowds chanting the 33-year-old Rekabi's name and calling her a hero.
She walked into one of the airport's terminals, filmed by state media and wearing a black baseball cap and a black hoodie covering her hair. She received flowers from an onlooker and then repeated what had been posted on Instagram that not wearing the hijab was “unintentional” and her travel had been as previously planned.
Rekabi described being in a women's only waiting area before her climb.
“Because I was busy putting on my shoes and my gear, it caused me to forget to put on my hijab and then I went to compete," she said.
“I came back to Iran with peace of mind although I had a lot of tension and stress. But so far, thank God, nothing has happened.”
Outside, she entered a van and slowly was driven through the gathered crowd, who cheered her. It wasn't clear where she went after that.
Rekabi left Seoul on a Tuesday morning flight. The BBC’s Persian service, which has extensive contacts within Iran despite being banned from operating there, quoted an unnamed “informed source” who described Iranian officials as seizing both Rekabi’s mobile phone and passport.
BBC Persian also said she initially had been scheduled to return on Wednesday, but her flight apparently had been moved up unexpectedly.
Rekabi didn’t put on a hijab during Sunday’s final at the International Federation of Sport Climbing’s Asia Championship.
Rekabi wore a hijab during her initial appearances at the one-week climbing event. She wore just a black headband when competing Sunday, her dark hair pulled back in a ponytail.
On Wednesday, a small group of protesters demonstrated in front of Iran's Embassy in Seoul, with some women cutting off locks of their hair like others have in demonstrations worldwide since Amini's death.
So far, human rights groups estimate that over 200 people have been killed in the protests and the violent security force crackdown that followed. Iran has not offered a death toll in weeks. Demonstrations have been seen in over 100 cities, according to the group Human Rights Activists in Iran. Thousands are believed to have been arrested.
Gathering information about the demonstrations remains difficult, however. Internet access has been disrupted for weeks by the Iranian government. Meanwhile, authorities have detained at least 40 journalists, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have repeatedly alleged the country’s foreign enemies are behind the ongoing demonstrations, rather than Iranians angered by Amini’s death and the country’s other woes.
Iranians have seen their life savings evaporate; the country’s currency, the rial, plummeted and Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers has been reduced to tatters.
SHARE ME