Iranian Elnaz Rekabi, 33, is making international headlines.
On the night of October 16-17 in Seoul, the Iranian climber finished fourth in the Asian Climbing Championship.
Beyond the sporting performance, it is the fact that she appeared with a simple scarf tied around her head, and not the traditional hijab, which went around the planet.
A clear breach of the dress code of the Islamic Republic of Iran which imposes the wearing of the hijab for all female athletes, even abroad.
"If it is voluntary, it is a very strong gesture. [Elnaz Rekabi] shows her solidarity with the Iranian women who reject the veil. It is also a heroic gesture because she risks expulsion from the team of Iran “, notes sociologist Azadeh Kian, researcher at Paris Cité University.
This gesture comes as Iran has been rocked for a month by protests.
Following the death of Mahsa Amini, arrested by Tehran police for not wearing her headscarf properly, these protests turned into a movement against compulsory hijab and the Islamic Republic itself.
According to the NGO Iran Human Rights, 122 people were killed in the repression of this dispute.
Supporters of the movement have been quick to portray Rekabi on social media as a "heroine", posting images of her climbing on the letters of the protest's slogan "Woman. Life. Freedom.".
In a historic move, Iranian athlete Elnaz Rekabi who represented Iran at the Asian Climbing Competitions finals in Seoul, competed without hijab, disobeying the Islamic Republic's restrictions for female athletes.
Jin Jiyan Azadi #OpIran pic.twitter.com/dyT8rVyIpt
— Anonymous 🕸 (@Parrattarna) October 18, 2022
Growing Concerns
But where has she gone since her gesture?
According to the Iranian embassy in South Korea, Elnaz Rekabi left Seoul on Tuesday morning.
The BBC's Persian Service quoted an "informed" but unnamed source as saying Iranian authorities seized the athlete's mobile phone and passport.
The British media also claims that she should have left the Korean peninsula only on Wednesday but that her return had been brought forward in an unexplained way.
The IranWire site, founded by Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari, said Elnaz Rekabi was transferred to Evin prison in Tehran upon her arrival in the country.
"The hypothesis of a transfer to prison as soon as she arrives is credible. She could have been taken there at least to be questioned," judge Azadeh Kian.
"Authorities usually confiscate the passports of celebrities when they return, arrest them and then take them for questioning. After that, they either keep them in jail or release them."
The sociologist recalls that this is exactly what happened to singer Homayoun Shajarian and his wife, actress Sahar Dolatshahi, when they returned from a concert in Australia.
In a tweet, the Iranian embassy in Seoul denied "all fake news and misinformation" regarding Rekabi's departure on Tuesday.
But instead of posting a photo of herself at the Seoul competition, she posted an image of herself wearing a headscarf at a previous competition in Moscow, where she won a bronze medal.
Coincidence or repression?
In her first post since appearing without a hijab, Elnaz Rekab apologized for the "concerns" caused and insisted her bareheaded appearance was "unintentional".
"I have been a member of the Iranian Climbing Federation for 20 years. I apologize for the concern I caused regarding the situation (in Iran). During the final of the Asian Championship, there was a programming error: they called me at the last moment to climb the wall. There was a mistake in the way I dressed. I'm going back to Iran as planned", she explains in a story posted on her account. Instagram not certified.
The message posted by the account of Elnaz Rekabi on Instagram.
© Screenshot
However, given the nature of the message, it is difficult to establish whether the Athlete wrote it freely or even whether she posted it.
"I think you have to be wary of this message," warns Azadeh Kian.
"Forced confessions are commonplace in Iran. We saw it again recently with the confessions of two French people."
"This type of method has been around for years. Arrested people are tortured physically and mentally. They are prevented from sleeping for several days, they are placed in complete isolation without light. They are made to understand that no one is thinking of them. All accompanied by threats to their families. Then, they are told what to say so that everything stops", says Azadeh Kian.
"It's so common that in Iran no one believes in these confessions anymore, which are actually more aimed at their base of support than at the rest of the population."
This is also the hypothesis defended by the activist Masih Alinejad.
In exile since 2009, she has denounced the forced wearing of the hijab in Iran for years.
On Twitter, she speaks of "an act of intimidation, a forced confession".
The International Climbing Federation issued a statement to stress that it was closely monitoring the situation: "From what we understand, she has returned to Iran, and we will continue to follow the evolution of the situation at her It is important to stress that athlete safety is paramount to us and we support all efforts to keep a valued member of our community safe in this situation."
In an Instagram story, Elnaz Rekabi wrote;
the "problem" with her hijab in the Climbing Competition happened "unintentionally".
She apologized that she made the Iranian people worried, and that she's returning to Iran along with the team.
Now Iranians are worried for her safety.
pic.twitter.com/iy4kXHHT89
— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) October 18, 2022
The fact that Iran Wire published a post on Tuesday afternoon announcing that Davood Rekabi, Elnaz's brother, was also arrested tends to demonstrate this thesis of forced contrition.
It gets worse.
@IranWireEnglish also posted on their Persian language website that Elnaz Rekabi's brother, Davood Rekabi (a fellow climbing champ), was also arrested and interrogated by IRGC intelligence because of her act of civil disobedience.
https://t.co/Kc9d0wLkKt
— Holly Dagres (@hdagres) October 18, 2022
The federation said it was in contact with Rekabi and Iranian officials, but declined to expand on the matter when reached by The Associated Press.
The federation also declined to discuss the Instagram post attributed to Rekabi and the claims it contains.
Elnaz Rekabi would be the second Iranian sportswoman to have dared to compete without a hijab.
Boxer Sadaf Khadem appeared bareheaded during a fight in France in 2019. After this event, she never returned to Iran and now lives in exile in France.
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