LONDON: An Iranian women who broke Iran’s strict hijab laws while competing at a climbing event in South Korea was forced to publicly apologize over the incident, the BBC reported.
In a statement this week after taking part in the competition without a headscarf, 33-year-old Elnaz Rekabi said her hijab had “fallen off inadvertently.”
But a source told the BBC that Rekabi’s family had been threatened by Iranian authorities after footage of the climber at the event went viral online.
Rekabi arrived in Tehran on Wednesday amid the controversy. Notably, she was not wearing a headscarf. The source said she was detained on arrival and taken to the National Olympic Committee building where she met the following day with Iran’s sports minister.
The climber is now at home but the BBC source questioned the accuracy of a statement by authorities in which they denied Rekabi was under house arrest and said she was in need of rest.
Iranian authorities have long faced issues with athletes competing overseas and failing to return home.
Before traveling to South Korea, Rekabi was forced to pay $35,000 to Iran’s climbing federation as collateral in case she did not return. The sporting federation also demanded legal control of her family’s property, with the threat of it being sold used to apply pressure and ensure Rekabi came home.
Despite the threats, several prominent Iranian female athletes have defected after traveling to other countries to compete, including Kimia Alizadeh, who won a gold medal in Taekwondo at the 2016 Olympics.
In January 2020, she said she had opted not to return to Iran to avoid being part of “hypocrisy, lies, injustice and flattery.”
