One of Iran’s top-ranked female chess players, Sara Khadem, arrived in Spain on Tuesday after receiving warnings not to return to Iran.
The reason for the warnings was that Khadem competed in an international tournament in Kazakhstan without wearing a headscarf amid nationwide protests in Iran, a source close to her said, Reuters reported.
As per the report, Khadem received several phone calls after she appeared without a headscarf, in which people warned her not to return to Iran after the tournament, while others said she should return while promising to “solve her problem.”
Khadem’s relatives and parents, who are in Iran, had also received threats.
As per media reports, after the phone calls, the tournament organizers agreed to provide security for the chess player in cooperation with the Kazakh police. Four bodyguards were stationed outside Khadim’s hotel room.
According to the International Chess Federation website, Khadem has the 804th spot in the global rankings.
In December 2022, 25-year-old Sara Khadem, also known as Sarasadat Khademalsharieh, competed in the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in Kazakhstan without wearing the headscarf, the Islamic head covering that women in Iran are required to wear by law.
On Wednesday, Sara took to Instagram to share her stance
(Translated)
“World Fast and Electric Championships – Almaty” was the first world competition I attended after a year and a half away from chess (due to pregnancy and the birth of my ten-month-old son, Sam), and the World Chess Federation and the tournament organizers hosted it.
There are rumors about me becoming a refugee that I decided to clear up. I did not become a refugee of any country!
This actually wasn’t needed, and for years, due to my success in the field and my husband’s multi-nationality, I have never had any concerns about obtaining residency through asylum. Our immigration issue is a family decision, not a political one. Iran is still our first home, and we will definitely return to Iran at the right time.
For the past three years, I have missed some of the important matches that I had been expecting to attend due to the ban.
Regarding the fact that they say that I got here with the government, the federation, or the money of Bittal, I also remind them that I have been going to the competitions since I was eight, with my father’s hard work and with the awards I won in international competitions, I personally and at the expense of the foreign coaches.
Pay at the end, I have done it, and there has been no Jerusalem. Of course, the recent words of the federation chairman regarding my presence in the matches at a personal cost express the subject and confirm my words. In the end, I will not answer to the federation and the ministry of sports, which I have not asked for years.”
US senator speaks out in support of Sara Khadem
Democratic Senator Bob Menendez, who heads the chamber’s Foreign Relations Committee, came out in support of Sara and said that Iranians face an almost impossible choice when it comes to competing overseas for their country.
“[Sarasadat] Khademalsharieh and others like her must choose between standing up for fundamental #human rights and returning to their country,” Menendez tweeted from the committee’s Twitter account on Sunday.
“The Iranian regime offers few choices to those who will not submit to its oppression.”
Other athletes from Iran have also appeared without headscarves in recent months, such as climber Elnaz Rekabi.
In December 2022, Iran’s men’s soccer team did not sing the national anthem in its first World Cup match, apparently in protest.
The gestures have been widely interpreted as a protest against Iran’s hardline rulers following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested for allegedly not wearing a headscarf properly.
Protests in Iran continues
Iran has been rocked by sweeping protests since September 16, over the death of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, in the custody of Iran’s morality police.
Her death has since ignited anger over several issues, including the restrictions imposed on personal freedoms and strict rules regarding women’s clothing, as well as the living and economic crisis that Iranians suffer from, not to mention the strict laws imposed by the regime and its political and religious composition in general.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency (Hrana) announced that 516 protesters had been killed in the unrest as of Wednesday, January 4, including 70 children.
At least 19,250 people, including 687 students, were arrested in those protests that took place in 161 cities and towns and 144 universities.
