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Iranian Climber Who Competed Without Hijab Returns to Tehran
A woman looks at a screen displaying a video of an international climbing competition is Seoul, South Korea, during which Iranian climber Elnaz Rekabi competes without a hijab on October 18, 2022. (AFP via Getty Images)

Iranian Climber Who Competed Without Hijab Returns to Tehran

The Iranian rock climber who competed in an international competition without her hijab returned to Tehran early on Wednesday, amid fears that she had gone missing and would be taken to prison upon her return to Iran. She was met at the airport by a large, cheering crowd, the BBC reported.

Elnaz Rekabi, 33, flew to Tehran from South Korea before dawn on Wednesday, where she had been competing at the International Federation of Sport Climbing’s Asia Championship in Seoul. She had reportedly lost contact with her family and friends for the two days before she returned.

BBC Persian service reported, citing “well-informed sources,” that Rekabi’s passport and cellphone had been confiscated. A post on an Instagram account said to be Rekabi’s in a first-person statement described climbing without wearing a hijab as “unintentional,” saying she was called last minute to her climb, and apologizing “for all the concerns I have caused. Many believe she wrote the post under duress, the BBC reported.

Rekabi, who won one silver and two bronze medals at the international competition in Seoul, wore a hijab for most of the week-long competition, but did not put on the hair covering for the final on Sunday, opting instead to wear her hear in a pony tail, with a black headband. The incident comes as Iran is in its fifth week of protests in the wake of the death on September 16 of a woman in the custody of the Islamic Republic’s morality police for not wearing a hijab properly.

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