Iran player warned not to return after competing internationally without hijab

Iranian chess player Sara Khadem reached Spain after receiving a warning from her country to not return, a report said.

Sara Khadem was told not to return as she competed without a hijab at an an international tournament in Kazakhstan amid nationwide protests in Iran, Reuters reported.

Sara Khadem took part in last week’s FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in Almaty without the hijab which is mandatory under Iran’s strict dress code for women. Sara Khadem is ranked 804 in the world, according to the International Chess Federation website.

The report claimed that Sara Khadem received multiple phone calls threatening her and warning her to not return to Iran after the tournament. Some calls even told her that if she returned, they would “solve her problem”.

Sara Khadem’s relatives and parents, who are in Iran, also received threats, the report added while the player reached Spain where four bodyguards were being stationed outside her hotel room amid the threats, Reuters reported.

This comes as Iran has been swept by protests since mid-September, when 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in the custody of morality police who detained her for “inappropriate attire”- not wearing her hijab properly.

Many sportswomen competing overseas appeared without their hijabs in public. Women have also been seen in the protests without their hijabs, marking the boldest challenge to Iran’s regime since the 1979 revolution.