His bareheaded participation in an event at the Asian Championships in Seoul on Sunday, October 16, had been “widely seen as an expression of support for the protesters in Iran”, remind him Financial Times. Tuesday, October 18, Iranian climbing champion Elnaz Rekabi assured that it is “inadvertently” that her veil had fallen, “fueling the suspicion that she had been pressured by the Islamic Republic”, writes the British daily.
While the Persian edition of the BBC reported the day before that her relatives had not heard from her since Sunday, the sportswoman apologized on Instagram for having “worried everyone” and said to be on the way back. In her post, quoted by the British channel, she explains:
“Due to bad timing, having been unexpectedly called upon to scale the wall, my veil inadvertently fell.”
A well-known athlete
As reminded by Financial Times, Elnaz Rekabi, 33, in 2021 became the first Iranian to win a bronze medal at the World Climbing Championships. She finished fourth on Sunday in South Korea.
A source told BBC Persian on Monday that his passport and phone had been confiscated. “Her family and friends lost contact with her after she said she was with an Iranian official,” add the string.
Protests have rocked Iran since the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman arrested on September 13 by vice squad in Tehran for “inappropriate clothing”.