Iranian athlete Elnaz Rekabi who defied Hijab rule in Seoul competition goes 'missing'

Female Iranian sport climber Elnaz Rekabi, who made headlines for not wearing a hijab while competing in an international tournament in Seoul over the weekend, has now reportedly gone missing in South Korea. Reports of her disappearance come two days after she participated in the IFSC Climbing Asian Championship finals and was seen without a hijab as an act of defiance against the Islamic Republic’s stringent regime. 

According to Iran International News, Rekabi’s passport was confiscated by Iranian authorities in Seoul and several hours have gone by since anyone has “heard from her.” Furthermore, the BBC’s Persian service said that friends of Rekabi have been unable to contact her since Sunday, adding that  “well-informed sources” have claimed that her mobile phone was also seized along with her passport. 

Rekabi was reportedly flown back to Iran on Tuesday

According to a Twitter post by BBC presenter Rana Rahimpour on Tuesday, the athlete boarded a plane for the Iranian capital of Tehran. “There are concerns about her safety,” Rahimpour wrote. Meanwhile, sources of anti-regime news website Iran Wire have said that Rekabi was taken to Seoul’s Iranian embassy to ensure that she could be flown back to Iran without security issues. Reports also claim that she boarded a flight to Tehran one day earlier than scheduled in order to avert protests at Imam Khomeini international airport.

A tweet uploaded by the Iranian embassy in Seoul on Tuesday read that Rekabi “departed from Seoul to Iran, early morning of October 18, 2022, along with the other members of the Team.” The tweet further read that the embassy “strongly denies all the fake, false news and disinformation regarding Ms. Elnaz Rekabi.”

Reports of Rekabi’s disappearance come amid a volatile situation in the country of Iran, which is currently witnessing nationwide anti-hijab protests and crackdowns following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on 16 September. 

In an interview conducted by Euronews in 2016, Rekabi talked about the constraints faced by athletes due to wearing a hijab. “At the beginning it was a little bizarre for the other athletes, who were curious about a girl wearing a scarf on her head and an outfit that covered the arms and legs whilst competing inside in such a hot temperature,” she said. “For sure when it’s hot the hijab becomes a problem. During competition your body needs to evacuate the heat. But we have tried to create an outfit ourselves that respects the hijab and is compatible with practising the sport of climbing,” she added.