The climber Elnaz Rekabi, received with the cry of champion by the public in Iran

• Elnaz Rekabi The vindication of the Iranian climber by competing without a veil

• Elnaz Rekabi "I competed without a veil unintentionally"

• Elnaz Rekabi The climber who challenges the Iranian regime by competing without a veil

Iranian climber Elnaz Rekabi was greeted on Wednesday shouting "champion" by dozens of people waiting for her at Tehran airport, after

, which is required by law in Iran, in apparent support of the protests. in the Persian country.

," shouted dozens of people to applause as the 33-year-old climber left Imam Khomeini International Airport at dawn, according to videos shared on social media by activists.

The athlete was also received by her family, who gave her a long hug, after having expressed

after competing in the Asian Climbing Championships held in South Korea without a veil and with a ponytail in the air during the weekend.

Clad in a veil and black cap, the climber said she felt "stressed" and "tense" on her return to the country, repeating the apology she offered on Instagram yesterday about the lack of a hijab.

"She was busy putting on my shoes and my equipment, and that made me forget to put on my veil," she told the state news agency IRNA.

"I return to Iran with a peaceful mind even though I

. But thank God, nothing has happened," she said.

After these statements, she got into a van and left the airfield.

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The strange message of the climber Elnaz Rekabi on her Instagram

• Drafting: LLUÍS MIQUEL HURTADOIstanbul

The strange message of the climber Elnaz Rekabi on her Instagram

The climber's gesture has been seen as a

who have been protesting for weeks against the mandatory wearing of the veil after the death in September of the young Mahsa Amini, after being arrested for improperly wearing the veil. .

Before her arrival in Iran, the Iranian embassy in Seoul had denied "all false news and misinformation" related to the athlete, who, according to media such as the BBC, had had her passport and phone withdrawn.

The protests unleashed by the death of Amini on September 16 are mainly led by young people and women shouting "woman, life, freedom", who

, one of the symbols of the Islamic Republic and something unthinkable not long ago.

The protests have been evolving as the authorities have reacted: they began with medium mobilizations in dozens of cities to go to the universities, and from them to small concentrations, sporadic and scattered through the streets, to return to the faculties.

The Oslo-based Iran Human Rights NGO has recorded

, aged 11 to 17.

In addition, there are thousands of detainees, including former footballers, activists, lawyers and singers, some of whom have been released on bail.

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