Elnaz Rekabi: Iranian climber arrives back in Tehran to hero’s welcome after competing without a hijab

Rekabi’s move to compete without Hijab was seen as a show of support for the ongoing protest movement

An Iranian rock climber who competed in an international tournament without her hijab has arrived back home in Tehran to a jubilant welcome.

A large crowd greeted Elnaz Rekabi at the Imam Khomeini International Airport, chanting her name and calling the 33-year-old a hero for her actions.

Videos on social media show hundreds of supporters outside the terminal clapping and chanting “Elnaz is a heroine” as she arrived.

Ms Rekabi was welcomed by her family, surrounded by an outpouring of support from the public as many people handed her bouquets of flowers.

Earlier this week, she competed in the Asian Championship in South Korea without wearing a headscarf.

Women in the Islamic country are mandated by law to cover their heads, even if competing abroad. But her appearance without a hijab came following weeks of protest sparked by the death of a 22-year-old woman.

Mahsa Amini was detained by the country’s morality police for her clothing, and her death was met by women removing their mandatory hijabs in public in protest.

The demonstrations have morphed into anti-regime demonstrations in more than 100 cities and represent the most serious challenge to Iran’s theocracy in years.

Ms Rekabi’s move to compete without a hijab was seen as a show of support for the ongoing protests. However, the athlete said it was not a deliberate move but happened as a result of “poor scheduling”.

In a statement posted on her Instagram account, Ms Rekabi also claimed her not wearing a headscarf during the competition was unintentional.

“I firstly apologise for all the concerns I have caused,” she wrote in a statement posted on her Instagram on Tuesday.

She repeated the explanation in an interview with the Iranian state media as well.

“I was busy wearing my shoes and fixing my equipment and forgot to wear my hijab, which I should have worn,” she was quoted saying.

However, there were concerns about the circumstances under which the athlete had issued an apology, with some reports suggesting she had been placed under pressure by Iranian officials in South Korea and was taken to the embassy.

Meanwhile, the Iranian embassy tweeted a photo of Ms Rekabi, with her head covered, and said she had departed the country. It dismissed reports of her going missing as “false news and disinformation”.

Ms Rekabi covered her head with a baseball cap instead of a hijab on her return to Iran.

Speaking to reporters outside the airport she said there had been “some extreme reactions” to the video of her appearance.

She said: “I came back to Iran with peace of mind although I had a lot of tension and stress. But so far, thank God, nothing has happened.”

“We’ve returned to Iran exactly as planned,” she stated.

Outside the airport, she apparently entered a van and slowly was driven through the gathered crowd, who cheered her. It was not clear where she went after that.

Additional reporting by agencies