The Government of Tehran denied this Tuesday that the Iranian athlete Elnaz Rekabi was detained and forced to return to Iran, after having participated in the Asian championship of climbing without veil, in South Korea, despite the news to that effect in the Press. International.
After wearing a hijab, the traditional Muslim veil that covers the head and shoulders, in the first heats of the championship, Rekabi, 33, competed with her hair down in the final. The gesture was seen as a show of support for Iranian women, who have been protesting for a month against the mandatory wearing of the hijab following the death of Mahsa Amini, the 23-year-old Kurdish girl who died three days after being detained by the morality police. in Tehran for infringing the strict code on the use of women’s clothing provided for in the laws of the Islamic Republic, in particular the use of the veil.
After winning the bronze medal, Elnaz Rekabi left Seoul on a flight to Tehran, with the BBC service in Farsi saying that the Iranian authorities had confiscated Rekabi’s cell phone and passport. Also citing unnamed sources, the news portal IranWire, founded by Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari, said that on arrival the athlete would be immediately transferred to Evin Prison, where political prisoners are held.
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