Elnaz Rekabi: Crowd greet Iranian climber who broke hijab rule on return

A large crowd at Tehran airport greeted an Iranian sport climber who competed without a headscarf at a competition in South Korea, calling her a "heroine".

Elnaz Rekabi, 33, broke Iran's strict dress code - but later said her hijab had fallen off "inadvertently".

Many are sceptical about the reason she gave in an Instagram post and repeated in a state TV interview at the airport, believing it was made under duress.

Iran is gripped by protests against the hijab laws and its clerical leaders.

Iranian women are required to cover their hair with a headscarf and their arms and legs with loose clothing. Female athletes must also abide by the rules when they are officially representing Iran in competitions abroad.

Ms Rekabi flew in before dawn on Wednesday from South Korea, where she had been competing at the IFSC Asian Championships.

Her family met her at the airport, where she was hugged and handed several bunches of flowers. She covered her hair with a black baseball cap and hoodie.

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

State media later broadcast an interview with Ms Rekabi, in which she repeated the explanation she had given in an Instagram post for climbing with her hair uncovered.

"I was suddenly and unexpectedly called on to compete while I was at the women's locker room," she said.

"I was busy wearing my shoes and fixing my equipment and forgot to wear my hijab, which I should have worn."

Ms Rekabi said there had been "some extreme reactions" to the video of her appearance sporting a ponytail and that she was "feeling stressed and tense".

"Thank goodness, I've returned to Iran in good health and safe. And I apologise to the Iranian people for the confusion and concerns."

She also denied reports that she had been out of contact with her family and friends and that she had left South Korea earlier than scheduled.

"That didn't happen. We've returned to Iran exactly as planned," she stated.

After similar comments were posted on Ms Rekabi's Instagram account on Tuesday afternoon, BBC Persian's Rana Rahimpour said that to many people, the language used looked as though it had been written under duress.

Other Iranian sportswomen who have competed abroad without wearing a headscarf in the past have said they came under pressure from Iranian authorities to issue similar apologies, she added. Some of them decided not to go back to Iran.

British-Iranian actress Nazanin Boniadi told BBC World News: "When I saw the interview on state TV with Elnaz Rekabi, all I could think of was the hundreds and hundreds of false confessions that we are accustomed to seeing out of Iran. The authorities use forced confessions under duress to disprove any dissident voices."

Hadi Ghaemi of the US-based Center for Human Rights in Iran said Ms Rekabi "risked her freedom and safety and has since been under extreme pressure by the government to cover up her courageous act of civil disobedience".

"It is now the responsibility of all people who support women's and human rights to stand with her and not let the government in Iran cover up the true story," he added.

The International Olympic Committee said it had been in close contact with the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) and Iran's National Olympic Committee (NOC) since it was informed of the situation with Ms Rekabi.

"A joint meeting took place today between the IOC, the IFSC and the Iranian NOC, during which the IOC and the IFSC received clear assurances that Ms Rekabi will not suffer any consequences and will continue to train and compete," a statement said.

"The IOC will continue to monitor the situation closely in the days and weeks to come, in co-ordination with the IFSC and the Iranian NOC."

Ms Rekabi was hailed as a new symbol of the anti-government protests led by women in Iran after video of her sporting a ponytail at the Asian Championships on Sunday went viral.

The protests were sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman arrested by morality police in Tehran on 13 September for allegedly wearing her headscarf too loosely. The police denied reports that she was beaten on the head with a baton and said she suffered a heart attack.

On Monday, a source told BBC Persian that Ms Rekabi's family and friends had lost contact with her after she said she was with an Iranian official. There were also reports that her passport and mobile phone had been confiscated and that she had left her hotel in Seoul two days early.

The Iranian embassy strongly denied what it called "all fake news, lies and false information" about her and said Ms Rekabi had left Seoul after the Asian Championships ended.