Elnaz Rekabi, a professional rock climber, was met with massive crowds of supporters upon her return to Tehran after competing in a rock-climbing tournament final without her hijab. Rekabi competed at the International Federation of Sport Climbing’s Asian Championships in Seoul, South Korea over the weekend.
On the Sunday final, Rekabi had her hair pulled back into a ponytail with a black headband. In her previous appearances, she competed with a hijab on. Iranian women are required by law to follow their country’s public dress code when representing Iran at international sporting competitions. Since Rekabi wore a hijab in the previous rounds that week, many observers interpreted this move as a political statement of defiance against the regime’s strict dress code.
After Rekabi’s event, family and friends claimed that they were unable to reach her, and the 33-year-old was reported missing for several hours. According to Iranian-British journalist Rana Rahimpour, Elnaz Rekabi’s phone and passport were confiscated and she was put on a flight by Iranian officials to leave earlier than intended.
On Tuesday, Elnaz Rekabi issued a public apology on her Instagram story for competing without a hijab.
The post consisted of an apology for “getting everybody worried” and a statement that “due to bad timing, and the unanticipated call for me to climb the wall, my head covering inadvertently came off.”
Additionally, the post mentioned that Rekabi was on her way back to Iran “alongside the team based on the prearranged schedule.”
Rekabi is not the first female Iranian athlete to face backlash for competing in attire that violates the country’s mandated dress code. Sadaf Khadem is an Iranian boxer who was forced to stay in France after Iranian officials issued a warrant for her arrest after she competed without a headscarf and in shorts in 2019.
In 2020, chess referee Shohreh Bayat received death threats after photos of herself without a headscarf on during the Women’s World Chess Championship circulated the internet. When Iran’s chess federation demanded Bayat to address the situation, she refused to issue any apology and has not returned to the country. In the same year, Iran’s only female Olympic medalist Kimia Alizadeh defected from the country.
Rekabi’s appearance without her hijab on in competition takes place a month after the death of Mahsa Amini, a young Iranian woman who died following her arrest by Iran’s “morality police.” Amini’s family asserts that officers beat her in the police van, citing eyewitness support. While the morality police claim Amini suffered a heart attack, doctors such as Dr. Hossein Karampour reject this narrative. In reference to published photos of Mahsa Amini in the hospital, Dr. Karampour points to Amini’s bleeding from the ear and bruises underneath her eyes to be “consistent with the symptoms associated with a head injury and the resulting bleeding.”
Large crowds at the Imam Khomeini International Airport outside of Tehran greeted the athlete with a hero’s welcome as she reiterated the same apology from her Instagram story, stating that her appearance without her hijab was “unintentional” and her travel back to Iran was previously planned. Some skeptics believe this is a forced confession pushed by the Iranian government. Exiting the airport, Rekabi entered a van that slowly drove through the crowds of supporters who cheered her on. It is unclear where the van went afterward.
Want to see more HCFSU? Be sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube and Pinterest!