Concerns are growing over the wellbeing of Iranian rock climber Elnaz Rekabi after she competed at an event in South Korea without a hijab.
Her bold move has been described as a gesture of solidarity with the women-led protests back home in Iran.
The 33-year-old apologised on Instagram for the “concerns” caused and insisted that her appearance without the Islamic garment had been “unintentional”.
She had come fourth representing Iran in the boulder and lead combined event at the Asian Championships in Seoul.
In the first event at the tournament, her head was covered with a bandana. But in the later lead climbing stage, which sees athletes scale a high wall with a rope, she wore only a headband, the stream posted by the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) showed.
This was in breach of the Islamic republic’s mandatory dress rules of compulsory headscarves for women, which also apply to female athletes, even when competing abroad.
The gesture came a month into protests in Iran over the death of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by Tehran police for allegedly violating the dress rules. The protests have transformed into a movement against the obligatory hijab and the Islamic republic itself.
Supporters of the protests described Rekabi as a “hero”, posting images of her climbing up the letters of the protest slogan “Woman. Life. Freedom.”
Nothing had been heard since the event from Rekabi until a story was posted on her Instagram account on Tuesday morning.
“I firstly apologise for all the concerns I have caused,” the statement from Rekabi said. Due to the timing and sudden call to begin the climb “my hijab unintentionally became problematic”, it added.
“I am currently on my way back to Iran alongside the team based on the pre-scheduled timetable.”
There are unconfirmed reports that Iranian officials pressured Rekabi into making the statement.
BBC Persian quoted an unnamed source as saying that friends had been unable to contact her and the team had left their hotel on Seoul on Monday, earlier than the scheduled departure date of Wednesday.
It said her mobile phone and passport had been taken from her. Meanwhile news website Iran Wire reported that the head of Iran’s climbing federation had “tricked” her into entering the Iranian embassy in Seoul and that she would then be taken directly to the airport.
It said the federation chief had promised her safe passage to Iran if she handed over her phone and passport.
The Iranian embassy in Seoul, however, issued a statement to AFP denying “all the fake, false news and disinformation regarding” her situation and adding Rekabi had left South Korea along with her teammates on Tuesday.
The spokesman for the UN office of the high commissioner for human rights, Ravina Shamdasani, said the UN was “aware” of the case and concerns were being raised with the Iranian authorities.
“Women should never be prosecuted for what they wear. They should never be subjected to violations such as arbitrary detention or any kind of violence with regards to what they wear,” she said in Geneva.
“We will be following this case very closely.”
Rekabi is believed to be the second Iranian woman to have appeared in competition without a headscarf after boxer Sadaf Khadem appeared bare-headed in a bout in France in 2019. Khadem did not return to Iran and now lives in exile in France.
Sport has become a hugely sensitive arena during the protests, with several prominent Iranian female athletes expressing support for women’s rights.
— with AFP
