The Iranian authorities prevent a planned trip to Spain by the sport climber Elnaz Rekabi. Rekabi recently spoke up again after a long silence.
Iranian sport climber Elnaz Rekabi at a competition in 2022
Is it just a chicane or is there more to it? The Iranian sports climber Elnaz Rekabi actually wanted to fly to Spain a week ago to train there for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. According to information from the Iranian exile television station Iran International, the 33-year-old was prevented from leaving the country. Airport officials confiscated her passport and asked Rekabi to go to the public prosecutor's office after the Nowruz holiday to obtain an exit permit.
Reza Zarei, head of the Iranian Climbing Association, blamed Rekabi himself. She didn't take care of her passport issues at the registration office, said Zarei. Nevertheless, his association and the country's National Olympic Committee wanted to ensure that the climber could qualify for the Paris Games. Among other things, Rekabi's start at the World Climbing Championships in Bern, Switzerland (1st to 12th August) and at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China (23rd September to 8th October) is still planned.
Silence broken
On the occasion of the Iranian New Year celebrations on March 21, Rekabi posted a post on Instagram for the first time in five months. The photo showed her in a crowd with a cap on her hair. She had written: “I wish my people the best. Happy Nowruz.”
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Rekabi made headlines around the world in October 2022 when she climbed without a hijab in the final of the Asian Championships in the South Korean capital of Seoul. The video of it had gone viral. Normally, those in power in Tehran demand that Iranian athletes wear a headscarf at competitions abroad. Iran's supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, recently protested against any discussion of women's head coverings. “Rejecting the hijab is forbidden and constitutes a political statement,” Khamenei said. “Behind this is a plan by the enemies [of Iran, Editor's note].”
Rekabi's performance without a hijab at the Asian championships was interpreted as support for the protest movement in Iran. Demonstrations have continued across the country since the death of young Iranian woman Jina Mahsa Amini in police custody in September 2022. People have long been protesting not only against discrimination against women, but also demanding an end to the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Apology or forced confession?
After her return from Seoul, an alleged apology by Rekabi was published. It said that she was in a hurry for the competition and therefore did not wear a headscarf. Observers took the public statement as an indication that the athlete had been put under massive pressure by the Iranian authorities. Foreign media reports said she had been placed under house arrest. The Iranian taekwondo fighter Parisa Farshidi, who lives in exile in Germany, had also spoken to DW about a “forced confession” by Rekabi. Then it became quiet around the climber until she spoke up on the occasion of the Iranian New Year celebrations.
The Iranian authorities may also have feared that Rekabi and her husband could leave Iran permanently – like chess grandmaster Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (Sara Khadem for short). She had also played without a hijab at the Rapid and Blitz World Championships in Kazakhstan at the end of December 2022. She never returned to Iran after that and has been living in Spain with her husband and son ever since.
A chess game between Khadem and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez at the end of January made the headlines. The head of government had invited the Iranian to the game. Afterwards, Sanchez wrote on Twitter that the example of athletes like Khadem “contributes to a better world”.