Iranian climber ‘goes missing’ after competing without headscarf

Fears are growing for an Iranian athlete who has left South Korea after opting to compete in a climbing event without her nation’s mandatory headscarf covering.

Farsi-language media outside Iran warned Elnaz Rekab may have been forced to leave early by Iranian officials and could face arrest back home, which Tehran quickly denied.

Rekabi’s decision to forgo the hijab came as protests sparked by the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was detained by the country’s morality police over her clothing, have entered a fifth week.

Rekabi, meanwhile, left Seoul on a Tuesday morning flight, the Iranian Embassy in South Korea said.

The BBC’s Persian service, which has extensive contacts within Iran despite being banned from operating there, quoted an unnamed ‘informed source’ who described Iranian officials as seizing both Rekabi’s mobile phone and passport.

BBC Persian also said she initially had been scheduled to return on Wednesday but her flight apparently had been moved unexpectedly.

IranWire, another website focusing on the country founded by Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari who once was detained by Iran, alleged that Rekabi would be immediately transferred to Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison after arriving in the country.

<p lang=«en» dir=«ltr» xml:lang=«en»>In a historic move, Iranian athlete Elnaz Rekabi who represented Iran at the Asian Climbing Competitions finals in Seoul, competed without hijab, disobeying the Islamic Republic’s restrictions for female athletes. pic.twitter.com/KvxE5NoQLi

Evin Prison was the site of a massive fire this weekend that killed at least eight prisoners.

In a tweet, the Iranian Embassy in Seoul denied “all the fake, false news and disinformation” regarding Rekabi’s departure on