by Elwelly Elwelly
DUBAI (Reuters) – An Iranian chess player, the target of alleged threats for not wearing a hijab during an international tournament in Kazakhstan, gave up returning to the Islamic Republic and arrived in Spain on Tuesday, according to a close source. .
Sara Khademalsharieh, who was born in 1997, appeared without a headscarf at the International Chess Federation (FIDE) World Rapid Chess Championships last week in Almaty.
The hijab is compulsory in Iran and Iranian women who represent their country abroad are required to wear it.
According to a source close to Sara Khademalsharieh – also known as Sarah Khadem – who requested anonymity, the young woman received several threatening phone calls after the tournament warning her against returning to Iran. Others invited him back, promising to “solve his problem”.
According to the same source, the parents and relatives of the female grand master, who reside in Iran, were also threatened.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Kazakh police, informed of the threatening calls, placed four bodyguards outside his hotel room, the source said.
The issue of veiling and dress requirements for women in Iran has become a hot topic since the death last September of a young woman after her arrest by vice police in Tehran.
A protest movement, violently repressed, has shaken the country since then. Several Iranian athletes competing abroad have shown their support for the movement by removing their hijab.
Sara Khadem is ranked 804th globally, according to the FIDE website.
(Written by Michael Georgy; French version Jean Rosset; editing by Sophie Louet)
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