An Iranian climber who triggered a sensation by competing at an occasion overseas without a hijab was given a hero’s welcome on her return to Tehran Wednesday by supporters who raucously applauded her motion.
With Iran nonetheless shaken by women-led protests over the loss of life of Mahsa Amini one month in the past, Elnaz Rekabi flew again to a Tehran airport after the competitors in South Korea.
In an Instagram submit and feedback on the airport, Rekabi has apologised over what occurred and insisted her hijab — which all Iranian girls, together with athletes, should put on — had by chance slipped off.
But activists concern her feedback have been made underneath strain from Iranian authorities, who have been doubtless infuriated by her actions.
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Elnaz and different girls who didn’t put on the Hijab
“Elnaz is a hero” and “Well done Elnaz!” chanted dozens of supporters who gathered outdoors the Imam Khomeini International Airport terminal, clapping their arms and brandishing cell phones to document the second.
They continued to chant and applaud as a van and car — one in every of which they presumed was carrying the climber — drove out of the airport by means of the crowds of individuals clapping above their heads.
Some of the ladies current have been themselves not carrying the hijab.
“A hero’s welcome — including by women without the forced hijab — outside Tehran… Concerns for her safety remain,”
mentioned the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).
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‘State propaganda’?
Rekabi, her hair coated with a baseball cap and a hoodie though not a headband, was greeted by members of the family contained in the airport terminal. She then addressed state media, with a masks pulled down on her face.
“Due to the atmosphere prevailing in the finals of the competition and the unexpected call for me to start my run, I got tangled with my technical equipment and… that caused me to remain unaware of the hijab that I should have observed,”
she mentioned.
“I returned to Iran peacefully, in perfect health and according to the predetermined plan. I apologise to the people of Iran because of the tensions created,” she mentioned, including she had “no plan to say goodbye to the national team”.
Her feedback have been just like these made on Tuesday in an Instagram submit, wherein she apologised for “concerns” triggered and insisted her bare-headed look had been “unintentional”.
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She was later photographed — nonetheless carrying a cap and hoodie — standing alongside Sports Minister Hamid Sajjadi, with whom she mentioned “her future in sports and arranged plans, including participation and success in the Paris Olympics”, a ministry assertion mentioned.
Activists have repeatedly accused the Islamic republic of coercing individuals into making statements of contrition on tv or social media.
British actress of Iranian origin Nazanin Boniadi, who’s an envoy for Amnesty International within the UK, tweeted that it was clear Rekabi had been “forced to make this statement by authorities that constantly use forced and televised confessions.”
Observers “should not be swayed by state propaganda”, the CHRI mentioned.
Prominent exiled Iranian journalist Maziar Bahari described Rekabi’s airport feedback as a “forced confession”.
“You can see the fear in her eyes. She’s just repeating what she’s been told,”
he mentioned.
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UN ‘closely following’
Unconfirmed experiences had already prompt Rekabi had been pressured by Iranian officers in South Korea.
BBC Persian quoted an unidentified supply as saying associates had been unable to contact her and the workforce had left their lodge in Seoul on Monday, two days earlier than their scheduled departure date.
News web site Iran Wire mentioned the pinnacle of Iran’s climbing federation had “tricked” Rekabi into getting into the Iranian embassy in Seoul and the federation chief had promised her protected passage to Iran if she handed over her telephone and passport.
The Iranian embassy in Seoul, nonetheless, issued a assertion to AFP denying “all the fake, false news and disinformation regarding” Rekabi’s state of affairs.
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The United States criticised the Iranian authorities’s therapy of Rekabi.
“The world and the Iranian people will be watching how she is treated,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel instructed reporters, and describing reported intimidation and threats towards her as “inexcusable.”
The incident befell on the Asian Championships in sports activities climbing in Seoul on Sunday.
In the preliminary bouldering self-discipline, Rekabi’s head was coated with a bandana however in a later occasion that concerned scaling a excessive wall with a rope, she wore solely a headband, the stream posted by the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) confirmed.
The IFSC mentioned in a assertion that it had been in touch with Rekabi and the Iranian Climbing Federation and absolutely assist “the rights of athletes, their choices, and expression of free speech”.
© Agence France-Presse
