Fears rise as climber Rekabi returns to Iran
An Iranian rock climber who competed in an international contest without a headscarf said she had done so unintentionally, after she was widely assumed to have expressed support for protests in Iran. Footage of Elnaz Rekabi, 33, had shown her scaling a wall without her head covered during the Asian competition in South Korea while representing Iran, which has been swept by protests ignited by Mahsa Amini's death in morality police custody. Citing an informed source, BBC Persian had earlier reported that friends had been unable to contact her, and there were fears for her safety. Iran's embassy in South Korea, on Twitter, denied reports about her going missing after the competition. In a statement posted on her Instagram account, Rekabi said she was on her way back to Iran with the rest of the team. The statement said not wearing her headscarf during the competition was unintentional, adding "there was poor scheduling and I was called to climb unpredictably".
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