Journalists, artists, athletes... this is how Iran represses its popular faces to set an example

Protests in front of the Iranian Embassy in Mexico for the repression of the ayatollahs' regime.

NurPhoto (NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Sara Khadem is among the best chess players in the world.

A few days ago, Leontxo García interviewed her for EL PAÍS Semanal, where he told why she fled her country and has settled in Spain.

The reason is that on December 26 she played without a veil, a very serious offense in Iran, during the Rapid Chess World Cup in Kazakhstan.

She did so to protest the death of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old girl who died in police custody on September 16, three days after being arrested by the morality police in Tehran on charges of wearing the mandatory headscarf incorrectly.

Khadem was able to flee and avoid the reprisals suffered by other well-known faces, whom the regime of the ayatollahs uses to set an example for the rest of the population.

As Trinidad Deirós tells in this

, popular people in Iran stand out in that profile, such as the climber Elnaz Rekabi or the soccer player Amir Nasr Azadini, sentenced to 26 years.

The same is true of executions, especially those carried out in public, such as that of national karate champion Mohamed Mehdi Karami, hanged in January at just 22 years of age.

The message they intend to send is the following: it does not matter if you are known, if you show up, you can pay with your life.

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