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Elnaz Rekabi upon her arrival at Tehran Airport after having to depart early from the Asian Championships in South Korea
Photo: IRIB/EPA
Iranian sport climber Elnaz Rekabi is under house arrest, according to a report by BBC Persian.
Iranian authorities, meanwhile, claim that she is only at home because she needs to rest.
Rekabi has become a hero to anti-regime protesters after breaking the rules when she climbed without a hijab in a competition.
The video of her running to the climbing wall with a black hair band at the Asian Championships, her hair tied in a ponytail, went around the world.
Rekabi was then sent home early from the competition in South Korea.
Shortly thereafter, she apologized on her Instagram account and in a TV interview and wrote that the hat accidentally slipped off.
Apparently held for one night
However, according to BBC Persian, she was forced to apologize.
A source familiar with the incident said the authorities threatened to confiscate her family's belongings.
Before leaving for the Seoul competitions, Rekabi had to give the Iranian Mountaineering Association a power of attorney to sell her family's property.
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Rekabi wore the same clothes for her meeting with Iran's sports minister on Wednesday as she did the night before when she arrived at Tehran airport
Photo: IRAN SPORTS MINISTRY HANDOUT/EPA
According to the media report, Rekabi was also detained for a night in a room belonging to the National Olympic Committee after her return to Tehran Airport.
She was guarded by plainclothes agents before she met the Iranian sports minister the next day.
(Read the current SPIEGEL report on the protests in Iran here.)
Rekabi thanks supporters
On Saturday morning, Rekabi published a new post on Instagram.
There she thanked “everyone in Iran” and in the international community for their support.
She did not comment specifically on the protests against the headscarf or her early departure from the competitions in South Korea.
But she was very grateful to everyone who came to the airport to welcome her there.
Solidarity of other athletes - criticism of the IOC
American sport climber Brooke Raboutou told the AP news agency at a competition in Japan on Friday that she supports Rekabi 100 percent.
"I know she is fighting a really hard fight and is doing everything she can to represent women in her country."
"We try to be their voice because it's not just about them, it's about everyone in this country," said French climber Oriane Bertone.
You don't think Rekabi is safe at the moment.
"When we saw the TV interview she gave, she was shaking."
The independent athletes' representation Athleten Deutschland had previously asked the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the world soccer association Fifa to take significant measures against the country in view of the protests in Iran.
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Sanctions
should be directed against the political leadership and the national associations," says the statement to SPIEGEL: "This also means that Fifa must act consistently and consider excluding Iran from the World Cup."
The world association of competitive climbing had stated that they had assurances that Rekabi "didn't have to fear any consequences and could continue to train and compete." The IOC had previously made similar statements.
However, both associations have not said how they intend to control how Rekabi is treated in Iran.
hpp/AP
