A woman in the Cypriot capital Nicosia watches a video of Iranian climber Elnaz Rekabi competing without a hijab at an international climbing competition in Seoul, South Korea.
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AFP via Getty Images
A woman in the Cypriot capital Nicosia watches a video of Iranian climber Elnaz Rekabi competing without a hijab at an international climbing competition in Seoul, South Korea.
AFP via Getty Images
SEOUL, South Korea – An Iranian female competitive mountaineer left South Korea on Tuesday after competing at an event where she climbed without her country’s mandatory headscarf. authorities said. Farsi-language media outside Iran warned she may have been forced to leave early by Iranian authorities and could face repatriation, which Tehran quickly denied.
The decision of Elnaz Rekabi, a multiple medalist in competitions, to give up the hijab, or headscarf, comes as protests flared by the September 16 death in custody of a 22-year-old woman has entered her fifth week. Mahsa Amini was detained by the country’s ethics police for her clothes.
The protests, which drew school-age children, oil workers and others to the streets in more than 100 cities, are the most serious challenge to Iran’s theocracy since it began. Mass protests surrounding the 2009 presidential election are controversial.
A later Instagram post on an account attributed to Rekabi described her failure to wear the hijab as “accidental”, although it is unclear if she wrote the post or if she was in a state of disrepair. any at that time. The Iranian government regularly puts pressure on activists at home and abroad, often broadcasting what human rights groups describe as forced confessions on state television.
Rekabi left Seoul on a flight Tuesday morning, the Iranian Embassy in South Korea said. The BBC’s Persian service, which has extensive contacts inside Iran despite being banned from operating there, quoted an unnamed “informed source”, who described how Iranian officials had seized both the phone and the phone. Rekabi’s mobile phone and passport.
BBC Persian also said she was originally scheduled to return on Wednesday, but her flight appeared to have been unexpectedly rescheduled.
IranWire, another country-focused website founded by an Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari was once detained of Iran, alleging that Rekabi would be immediately transferred to Tehran’s notorious Evin prison upon arrival in the country. Evin Prison was the site of a massive fire this weekend that killed at least 8 inmates.
In a tweet, the Iranian Embassy in Seoul denied “all fake news, false facts and misinformation” regarding Rekabi’s departure on Tuesday. But instead of posting a photo of her from the competition in Seoul, it posted an image of her wearing a headscarf at an earlier competition in Moscow, where she won a bronze medal.
Calls to the Iranian Embassy in Seoul went unanswered on Tuesday.
Rekabi did not wear a headscarf during Sunday’s final at the International Sports Climbing Federation Asian Championships, according to the Seoul-based Korea Alpine Federation, the event’s organizer.
Federation officials said Rekabi wore a headscarf during her first appearance at the week-long climbing event. She only wears a black headband when she competes on Sunday, her dark hair is tied in a ponytail; she has a white shirt with the flag of Iran as a symbol on it.
The following Instagram post, written in first person, apologized on behalf of Rekabi. The post blamed a sudden call that caused her to climb a wall during the competition – although competition footage shows Rekabi relaxing as she approaches and after she competes. It also sought to describe her trip back to Iran on Tuesday as “on schedule.”
Rekabi was part of Iran’s 11-member delegation, consisting of eight athletes and three coaches, to the event, according to the federation.
Federation officials said they were initially unaware of Rekabi competing without a headscarf but looked into the case after receiving inquiries about her. They said the event did not have any regulations requiring female athletes to wear or not wear headscarves. However, Iranian women who compete abroad under the Iranian flag always wear a headscarf.
“We understand that she is returning to Iran, and we will continue to monitor the situation as it develops upon her arrival,” the International Sports Climbing Federation, which oversees the event, said. in a statement. “It’s important to stress that the safety of our athletes is paramount to us and we support any effort to keep a valued member of our community safe. us in this situation.”
The federation said it has contacted both Rekabi and Iranian officials, but declined to disclose details of the content of those calls when contacted by the Associated Press. The federation also declined to discuss Rekabi’s alleged Instagram post and the statements therein.
On Tuesday, South Korea’s foreign ministry acknowledged that the Iranian athlete and her team had left the country without further elaborating.
Rekabi, 33, has stood on the podium three times at the Asian Championships, winning one silver and two bronze for her efforts.
To date, human rights groups estimate that more than 200 people have been killed in the protests and the violent crackdown by security forces that followed. Iran has not released a death toll for weeks. According to the group Human Rights Activists in Iran, protests were witnessed in more than 100 cities. Thousands of people are believed to have been arrested.
However, gathering information about the protests remains difficult. Internet access was interrupted for weeks by the Iranian government. Meanwhile, authorities have arrested at least 40 journalists, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have repeatedly accused the country’s foreign enemies of being behind the ongoing protests, rather than Iranians angered by his death. Amini and other woes of the country.
Iranians have seen their life savings evaporate; The country’s currency, the rial, plummeted and Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers fell to pieces.
In a statement on Tuesday, the office of the United Nations high commissioner for human rights called for the immediate release of all those “arbitrarily detained” during the protests. It also criticized the “unabated violent response of the security forces” that has seen even children arrested and killed.
“The continued use of unnecessary and disproportionate force against protesters must stop,” the statement said. “The arrest of people simply for exercising their right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression is an arbitrary deprivation of liberty.”
