Iranian sportswoman Elnaz Rekabi, who had participated without a veil in the Asian climbing championships in South Korea, returned to Tehran on Wednesday, and was cheered on her arrival at the airport.
Her participation in the competition without a veil with a jersey in the colors of Iran, wearing only a bandana, had been interpreted as a gesture of solidarity with the demonstrations sparked a month ago by the death of the young Iranian Kurd Mahsa Amini.
The Islamic Republic indeed imposes on Iranian sportswomen the wearing of the veil, compulsory for all women, even in competitions abroad.
Twice since Tuesday, 33-year-old Elnaz Rekabi has issued an “apology” to the Iranians and explained that her headscarf slipped off by mistake. But human rights activists have said that these statements, made in front of the press and on social networks, could have been obtained under pressure.
“Elnaz is a heroine”shouted dozens of people massed Wednesday morning in front of the terminal of Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran to welcome the young woman to applause and cheers, brandishing mobile phones to film the scene.
Women without veils
The crowd, where there were women not wearing the veil, surrounded a van and a car where the sportswoman would have taken place, who left the airport, still to applause, for an unknown destination.
“A heroine welcome, including from women without the compulsory veil, outside Tehran airport for sportswoman Elnaz Rekabi. Concerns remain for her safety”commented the NGO Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI), based in Iran.
Dressed in a black hooded jacket and a baseball cap, Elnaz Rekabi was welcomed into the terminal by her relatives, before speaking to the media.
“Due to the climate during the finals of the competition and the fact that I was called to start when I was not expecting it, I found myself entangled in my technical equipment (…). Because of that, I didn’t pay attention to the scarf I should have worn”she said.
“I returned to Iran in peace, in perfect health and according to the planned program. I apologize to the Iranian people for the tensions created”she said, adding that she did not have “the intention to say goodbye to the national team”.
State propaganda?
But the Islamic Republic has several times been accused of provoking forced confessions or statements. The British actress of Iranian origin Nazanin Boniadi, ambassador for Amnesty International in the United Kingdom, estimated on Twitter that the sportswoman “was forced to make this statement by the authorities, who are accustomed to forced confessions on television”.
The observers “must not be influenced by state propaganda”underlined the CHRI.
Already on Tuesday, the sportswoman had presented on her Instagram account, with more than 200,000 subscribers, “apologies for the concern” that she was able to cause and assured that the decision to remove her veil was not “unintentional” but motivated by the call to perform the test earlier than planned.
Human rights defenders outside Iran had expressed concern over her fate, with several of her friends saying they could not reach her.
The Iranian embassy in Seoul had denied “all false information and misinformation” about her situation and claimed that she left South Korea with her teammates on Tuesday.
Elnaz Rekabi wore a bandana during the bouldering event and a headband showing his hair during a second event, according to images released by the International Climbing Federation.
The competition, where she placed fourth, took place on Sunday, a month to the day after the death of Mahsa Amini, arrested on September 13 in Tehran by the morality police who accused her of having broken the strict dress code of the Islamic Republic for women, including the wearing of the veil.
Sport has become an extremely sensitive topic in Iran since these protests, with several prominent Iranian sportswomen speaking out in support of women’s rights. Famous footballers have also come under fire for comments about the move, such as soccer legend Ali Daei, who had his passport briefly confiscated.