Iran: Climber sent back home ‘in disgrace’ for not covering hair

Elnaz Rekabi went missing in Seoul before it emerged she had been flown back to Tehran, where she is expected to be jailed.

Iranian climber Elnaz Rekabi competing during the women boulder finals of the Asian Championships of the IFSC in Seoul. Picture: AFP

An Iranian climber went missing for 24 hours after she competed in the Asian championships in Seoul at the weekend with her long hair uncovered,

Elnaz Rekabi, 33, a professional sports climber, was being flown back to Tehran in disgrace last night after being filmed taking part in an international competition without her headscarf.

After two days of confusion over Rekabi’s whereabouts, an opposition news website abroad claimed she had been put on a plane and was due to be arrested when she arrived back at Tehran airport. From there she would be taken to Evin prison, home to many dissidents and foreign citizens.

The same agency said that her brother Daoud was arrested on Monday, most probably to put pressure on her to apologise for her “offence”.

A video of Rekabi’s performance went viral, at a time when Iran has been swept by protests prompted by the death in custody of a 22-year-old student who had been arrested for wearing a hijab in an improper manner.

Many women have removed their headscarves in protest.

Nothing was heard of Rekabi in the day after the footage showed her striding up to the climbing wall with her hair flowing. Friends were unable to contact her.

Elnaz Rekabi went missing for 24 hours. Picture: AFP

The BBC’s Persian-language service reported that officials accompanying her team had seized her phone and passport and taken her to the Iranian embassy. This has been denied by the Iranian authorities.

“Ms Elnaz Rekabi departed from Seoul to Iran, early morning of October 18, 2022, along with the other members of the team,” the embassy replied yesterday on Twitter, which is banned in Iran.

“The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in South Korea strongly denies all the fake, false news and disinformation regarding Ms Elnaz Rekabi.”

The tweet was accompanied by a picture of Rekabi in a hijab from a previous competition. Later yesterday a post appeared on Rekabi’s Instagram account in which she said her hijab had slipped “unintentionally” because she was in a rush to start her climb. Yet the viral video had shown her calm and neatly turned out as she began the event.

Rekabi said she was returning to Iran as scheduled, adding: “I apologise about what I did to make you worry.”

More than 200 people are reported to have been killed since protests began after Mahsa Amini died in Tehran on September 16. Her family maintain that she was beaten to death in custody. The authorities say she suffered cerebral hypoxia – lack of oxygen to the brain – linked to a medical condition.

Videos leaked from Iran show increasingly violent clashes as people fight back against attempts to arrest protesters.

Ali Daei, one of Iran’s most-capped footballers and a former national captain, has been under pressure to remove claims that a 16-year-old girl from his home town, named as Asra Panahi, died after she and other pupils at her school were beaten for refusing to take part in a pro-regime parade.

The authorities have said that Asra also died from an unrelated health condition.

The Times