Fears for Iranian climber Elnaz Rekabi after she competed in Seoul without a hijab

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A female Iranian climber has reportedly gone missing in South Korea, two days after she competed in an international tournament without a hijab.

The BBC’s Persian service said friends of Elnaz Rekabi had been unable to contact the athlete since Sunday. The service also quoted “well-informed sources” as saying that her passport and mobile phone had been confiscated.

Rekabi had just finished competing in the Asian Championships when she went missing, according to the BBC. The organisers of the championships, the International Federation of Sport Climbing, have been contacted for comment.

The BBC World Service presenter Rana Rahimpour tweeted on Tuesday morning that Rekabi was already on a plane bound for Tehran. “There are concerns about her safety,” Rahimpour said.

The online news site Iran Wire reported Rekabi had been taken to the Iranian embassy in Seoul to ensure she could be flown home with minimal scrutiny.

Iran Wire, a small anti-regime site, quoted a source as saying that Rekabi would be flown back to Tehran on Tuesday – one day earlier than scheduled – to deter possible protests at Imam Khomeini international airport.

The Guardian was not able to confirm the reports.

In a tweet on Tuesday, the Iranian embassy in Seoul said that Rekabi “departed from Seoul to Iran, early morning of October 18, 2022, along with the other members of the Team.”

“The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in South Korea strongly denies all the fake, false news and disinformation regarding Ms. Elnaz REKABI,” it said. The Guardian has contacted the embassy for comment.

Rekabi’s apparent disappearance comes at a tumultuous time for Iran, which has been gripped by deadly protests in the wake of Mahsa Amini’s death in police custody last month. Iran’s most serious unrest in three years broke out after 22-year-old Amini’s death on 16 September. She had been detained by the country’s “morality police” for not wearing a hijab properly.

Some female protesters have removed and burned their hijabs and cut off their hair, while crowds have chanted “zan, zendegi, azadi” or “woman, life, freedom”.

Last year, Rekabi became the first Iranian woman to win a medal at the sport climbing world championships. She finished fourth at last weekend’s event in South Korea. A video clip showed her scaling a wall with her hair tied back in a ponytail during the event.

Rekabi, who has posted photos of herself training while wearing a hijab on her Instagram account, is also believed to be only the second Iranian female athlete to compete while openly defying Iran’s strict law requiring women to wear the Islamic head covering.

In 2019, the boxer Sadaf Khadem became the first Iranian woman since the Islamic revolution to win a fight overseas. Khadem opted to remain in France after the bout, after Iranian authorities reportedly issued a warrant for her arrest because she had boxed bareheaded and in shorts.

In a 2016 interview with France-based Euronews, Rekabi acknowledged that wearing a hijab while climbing could pose additional physical challenges.

“At the beginning it was a little bizarre for the other athletes, who were curious about a girl wearing a scarf on her head and an outfit that covered the arms and legs whilst competing inside in such a hot temperature,” she said.

“For sure when it’s hot the hijab becomes a problem. During competition your body needs to evacuate the heat. But we have tried to create an outfit ourselves that respects the hijab and is compatible with practising the sport of climbing.”