Elnaz Rekabi, an Iranian sports climber who competed in South Korea without wearing a headscarf, was greeted by a cheering mob upon her return to Iran on Wednesday, according to Iranian media.
Rekabi wore nothing but a headband on Sunday at the Asian Championships in Seoul, which some saw as a show of support for the month-long demonstrations in Iran over Mahsa Amini’s passing after her incarceration for allegedly violating Islamic dress regulations.
The action violated the Islamic Republic’s mandated headscarf dress code, which also applies to all female athletes participating overseas.
Rekabi, 33, may be seen in a video released by the official news agency IRNA Wednesday morning arriving at Imam Khomeini International Airport.
According to a video uploaded online by the reformist Shargh daily, dozens of people applauded and clapped enthusiastically as she stepped outdoors.
They encircled a white van and a vehicle that seemed to be carrying her and other team members.
Rekabi, who was wearing a black sweatshirt and baseball cap, was welcomed by family members before speaking to the press while wearing a mask that had been pulled down over her face.
“I became tangled with my technical equipment due to the excitement that was present in the competition finals and the sudden call for me to start my run, which caused me to stay ignorant of the hijab that I should have observed,” she claimed.
“I arrived in Iran without incident, in excellent health, and in accordance with the prearranged schedule. She said, “I have no plans to say farewell to the national team. I apologize to the Iranian people for the tensions generated.”
Her remarks echoed one she made on Instagram on Tuesday, in which she apologized for any “concerns” she may have created and emphasized that becoming bald was “unintentional.”
Following reports that her friends had been unable to reach her, rights organizations outside of Iran voiced worry about her condition.
Rekabi and her colleagues departed South Korea on Tuesday, according to a statement from the Iranian embassy in Seoul, which denied “all the fabricated, false reports and misinformation about” her condition.
According to the stream provided by the International Federation of Sport Climbing, she wore a bandana over her head for the first discipline of bouldering but merely a headband for the second, lead climbing, which included ascending a tall wall with a rope.
It happened while Iran was engulfed in protests over the murder of 22-year-old Amini, with many women participating and pulling off their head coverings in public places like schools and colleges and on the streets.
Numerous people have died as a result of the street violence, predominantly protestors but also security personnel, and hundreds more protesters have been detained.