ビジャブ非着用のイラン女子選手が国外へ　家族が公表

【パリＡＦＰ＝時事】イランのスポーツクライミング女子代表で、女性の髪を隠すスカーフ「ヒジャブ」を着用せずに大会に出場たエルナズ・レカビ選手が母国を離れたと、同選手の兄弟と国内オリンピック委員会（ＮＯＣ）が明らかにした。（写真は、韓国・ソウルで開かれたスポーツクライミングのアジア選手権に出場したイランのエルナズ・レカビ選手）
　２０２２年１０月に韓国・ソウルで開催されたスポーツクライミングのアジア選手権で、レカビ選手はイスラム教国で女性に義務づけられている頭部を覆うスカーフを着用せずに競技に臨み、世界的な注目を集めて広く称賛された。
　しかし、帰国後は公の場からほぼ姿を消したことにより、イラン国外に拠点を置くペルシャ語系メディアでは、自宅軟禁されて海外での競技を禁止されたと報じられた。
　イランでは同年９月、服装規定違反の疑いで逮捕されたマフサ・アミニさんが勾留中に死亡したことを受けて反政府運動が起こった。デモは数か月続いたものの、厳しい弾圧に直面して下火となった。
　レカビ選手の兄弟はインスタグラムのストーリーに、同選手がイランを離れ、そして将来戻ってくることを望んでいると投稿。この書き込みはウェブサイトのイランワイヤや在英ペルシャ語放送イラン・インターナショナルで引用された。イラン・インターナショナルによると、レカビ選手はスペインに移住したという。
　この情報はイラン学生通信（ＩＳＮＡ）も報道。ＩＳＮＡは、イランのＮＯＣで責任者を務めるメフディ・アリネジャド氏の話として、レカビ選手の兄弟がインスタグラムに投稿した内容を把握していると述べたと伝えた。
　アリジャネド氏は１１日、報道陣に対して、「彼らがプロのスポーツを追求したいならイランにいるべきだ。ＮＯＣはこの２年間レカビを支援しており、彼女自身もこれを認めるだろう」と話す一方で、「誰もが住む場所を選ぶ権利がある」と付け加えた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2025/03/14-16:41）

An Iranian sports climber, widely praised in 2022 for competing without a hijab at the height of nationwide protests, has left the country, her brother and an Iranian official said.
Elnaz Rekabi gained global attention in October 2022 when she took part in championships in South Korea without wearing the headscarf required for women in the Islamic republic.
She returned home and largely vanished from public view, with some Persian-language media based outside Iran reporting she had been placed under house arrest and banned from competing abroad.
The protests erupted in September 2022 after the death in custody of Mahsa Amini who had been arrested for allegedly flouting the obligatory headscarf rule. The movement lasted for months before fading in the face of a deadly crackdown.
Rekabi has left Iran, her brother Davood wrote in an Instagram story quoted by the IranWire website and Iran International television channel, that also expressed hope she could return in the future.
Iran International also shared another Instagram post by a fellow climber showing Rekabi training on an indoor wall in a vest and without a headscarf. It said that according to its information she had moved to Spain.
In Iran, the ISNA news agency also said that she had moved to Spain and quoted the head of Iran's National Olympic Committee Mehdi Alinejad as saying he was aware of Davood Rekabi's Instagram post.
If they want to pursue their professional sports, they should be in Iran. The National Olympic Committee has supported Rekabi for the past two years, and she herself will acknowledge this, he told reporters on Tuesday.
But he added: Everyone has the choice over where to live.
It is not clear when and under what circumstances Elnaz Rekabi left Iran.
In another development, the International Federation for Sport Climbing announced last month that Rekabi has been appointed as the athlete role model for sport climbing in the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar in 2026.
It said her role was confirmed in a meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland between the climber herself, IFSC president Marco Scolaris and International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach.
IranWire and other outlets have reported previously that the IOC had been closely watching her case and were deeply concerned over her inability to travel outside of Iran.
At the time of the incident she had issued an apology on Instagram and insisted her bare-headed appearance had been unintentional.
Some reports suggested she had been pressured by Iranian officials while in South Korea although this was vehemently denied by Iran's Seoul embassy.