Iranian sportswoman Elnaz Rekabi, welcomed as a hero in Tehran after taking part in a competition without a veil in South Korea, thanked her supporters overnight from Friday to Saturday, on Instagram. “I am infinitely grateful for your support, the Iranian people, the most honorable people in the world, athletes and non-athletes, and for all the support abroadShe wrote in her first social media post since returning from the Asian Climbing Championships in Seoul.
Elnaz Rekabi, 33, was greeted at Tehran airport on Wednesday by a crowd of supporters, including women not wearing headscarves, before being received later in the day by Sports Minister Hamid Sajjadi, according to a statement. official.
His participation in the competition, with only a bandana on his head, had been interpreted as a gesture of solidarity with the demonstrations which have shaken Iran since the death on September 16 of Mahsa Amini. This young Iranian Kurd had been arrested three days earlier by the morality police who accused her of having broken the drastic dress code of Iran, imposing the wearing of the veil in public. “I am very grateful to those who came to meet me at the airport and I love you“, posted Elnaz Rekabi, in Farsi and English, in this publication signed “Me, the people, Iran“. “Everything I have today I owe to your support” and “the future will not be easy without your support“Wrote the young woman again.
Overseas-based human rights organizations have in recent days expressed concern for the fate of the sportswoman, who on two occasions claimed that her headscarf slipped by mistake and exhibited “excuses“.