Worry grows for Iranian climber Elnaz Rekabi who competed in Seoul without hijab
- The BBC quoted ‘well-informed sources’ as saying Rekabi’s passport and mobile phone had been confiscated by authorities
- The Iranian embassy in Seoul denied ‘all the fake, false news and disinformation’ regarding Rekabi’s status
An Iranian female competitive climber left South Korea on Tuesday after competing at an event in which she climbed without her nation’s mandatory headscarf covering, authorities said.
Farsi-language media outside Iran warned she may have been forced to leave early by Iranian officials and could face arrest back home, which Tehran quickly denied.
The decision by Elnaz Rekabi, a multiple medallist in competitions, to forgo the headscarf, or hijab, came as protests sparked by the September 16 death in custody of a 22-year-old woman have entered a fifth week. Mahsa Amini was detained by the country’s morality police over her clothing.
The demonstrations, drawing school-age children, oil workers and others to the street, represent the most-serious challenge to Iran’s theocracy since the mass protests surrounding its disputed 2009 presidential election.
Rekabi left Seoul on a Tuesday morning flight, the Iranian embassy in South Korea said. 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.