Iranian sport climber Elnaz Rekabi, 33, competed without wearing a hijab at the International Federation of Sport Climbing's (IFSC) Asian Championships in Seoul on Sunday. She promptly left South Korea on Tuesday, with speculation that she was forced to leave by Iranian officials and could potentially face arrest back in Iran, where women are required to wear a headscarf in public at all times, reports The Associated Press. The Iranian embassy in Seoul confirmed that Rekabi left Seoul for Iran but denied "all fake news, lies, and false information" about her, BBC reports.
Rekabi's actions come while protests in Iran over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini have garnered international attention. Rekabi was praised by a number of human rights groups including Amnesty International, which also acknowledged that she could face "severe consequences" in Iran, writes NBC News.
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