Iranian Chess Player Arrives In Spain After Competing Without Hijab

source by: Reuters

Sara Khadem an Iranian chess player landed in Spain on Tuesday after getting warnings not to return to Iran. Last week She competed FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in Almaty without the hijab.

The source also said that Khadem’s family and parents, who live in Iran, had also been threatened, but didn’t give any more information.

When asked for a comment on the case, Iran’s foreign ministry did not answer right away.

who is also known as Sarasadat Khademalsharieh, got to Spain on Tuesday. Reuters asked her for a comment, but she hasn’t given one yet.

Last week, newspapers like Le Figaro and El Pais said that Khadem would not be going back to Iran and would instead move to Spain.

The phone calls led organizers to decide to provide security with the help of Kazakh police. As a result, a source said, four bodyguards were put in front of Khadem’s hotel room.

Since mid-September, when 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini died in morality police detention for “wrong dress,” Iran has been engulfed by anti-clerical protests.

During the unrest, the laws that require women to wear the hijab have become a point of contention. This is because a number of sportswomen who are competing abroad have been seen in public without their headscarves.

The website for the International Chess Federation says that Khadem is ranked 804th in the world. On the website for the event from December 25–30, she was listed as taking part in both the Rapid and Blitz competitions.

People from all walks of life in Iran have joined the protests, which are one of the bravest challenges to Iran’s leadership since the 1979 revolution.
Women have played a big part by taking off their headscarves and, in some cases, burning them. Protesters have been encouraged by what they see as signs of support from both male and female Iranian athletes.