The Iranian embassy in South Korea has made it known that Elnaz Rekabi – the Iranian climber who competed without a veil in Seoul, in what appeared as a gesture of protest against the ayatollah regime – is flying to Tehran and has denied reports that she would disappear or be arrested. “Ms. Elnaz Rekabi, who participated in the final of the Asian Climbing Championships, left Seoul for Iran at dawn today, October 18, 2022, together with the other members of her team,” said the diplomatic legation in a note.
There has been no news from yesterday about the Iranian sport climbing champion Elnaz Rekabi, who last week participated in the Asian championships in South Korea without the hijab. It was there to break the news Bbc Persian citing sources close to the athlete. No one has been able to contact her since Sunday evening.
In the note, the embassy “denies all the false news and misinformation” connected to the athlete, the rumors that claimed that the girl was under blackmail and locked up in Evin prison. The Iranian team was due to return to Iran on Wednesday. The traces of the young woman, destined to become a new symbol of the protests and that she had competed without a veil at the sports climbing championships in Seoul, were lost yesterday.
According to Bbc, in the last few hours her phone and passport had been confiscated; and her friends hadn’t been able to contact her since Sunday night. Elnaz Rekabi took fourth place at the Asian championships that took place on Sunday, after athletes from South Korea and two from Japan: she competed without a headscarf and her photos were widely disseminated on social media.