Elnaz Rekabi: Iranian climber hailed a ‘heroine’ on return to Tehran 

Iranian sport climber Elnaz Rekabi was greeted by hundreds of supporters at Imam Khomeini international airport outside Tehran early this morning. The 33-year-old was returning home from the Asian championships in Seoul, South Korea, where she had competed without wearing a hijab.

Videos on social media showed large crowds shouting “Elnaz is a heroine” as she disembarked in the Iranian capital. The athlete was met by her family and she was handed several bunches of flowers.

Iran is currently “gripped by protests against the hijab laws and its clerical leaders”, said the BBC. Rekabi had broken the country’s strict dress code for women, but later said her hijab had fallen off “inadvertently”.

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Wearing the hijab is mandatory for female athletes from the Islamic Republic competing abroad and Rekabi had “previously done so herself”, said Yuliya Talmazan on NBC News. What appeared to be a “daring political statement” was “widely noticed” by Western media and Iranian observers.

Following the release of a video showing her competing without a hair covering “there were two days of confusion over Rekabi’s whereabouts”, said Richard Spencer in The Times. On the day after the footage showed her “striding up to the climbing wall with her hair flowing”, nothing was heard of Rekabi and friends were unable to contact her.

After arriving in Iran, Rekabi told a state TV reporter that it was “completely unintentional” to compete without a hijab. “I was busy putting on my shoes and technical gear and that caused me to forget putting on the hijab I had to be wearing.”

There have been five weeks of protests in Iran over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody after she was arrested for breaking hijab laws. Her death has led to women in Iran taking a stand and removing their hijabs in public.