She refused to wear the veil during world championships, so Iranian chess champion Sara Khadem now has to live in exile. The 25-year-old’s last match was during the competition in Kazakhstan on December 26 last year, when the young player chose not to wear a headscarf as a form of solidarity with the country’s months-long protests. It was triggered by the murder of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody last September, three days after she was arrested in Tehran for wearing her headdress wrong.
The multi-title chess player told the BBC he thought a lot before deciding to play without a veil, but found it hypocritical to just wear it in front of the cameras like other competitors did, and preferred to be himself. “When I wear a headscarf, it’s not me,” she told British television. “It was the least I could do,” she said, given the sacrifices made by the women and girls, many of whom risk their lives on the streets of Iran. This is not the first friction between Khadem and the Islamic Republic’s code of conduct. The player announced in 2020 that he would be leaving the national chess team to protest Iran’s downing of a Ukrainian plane on January 8. In fact, the outbreak of the epidemic paralyzed various international competitions, and we have only recently returned to talk about it.
Now, the actress lives in Spain with her son and husband, thanks to the golden visa rule that allows anyone who buys a property worth half a million euros to obtain a residence permit. The woman plans to continue playing under the Iranian flag in order to enter the world top ten; All this, obviously, without wearing a veil. He and his family also asked the BBC not to reveal the exact location of she; Their concern is that they may have repercussions even thousands of kilometers from the country.
As a sign of solidarity, Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez invited Khadem to meet him on January 25, and the two played chess. But a news from Iran ruined the day. “I was served a warrant for arrest under house arrest that day. I had mixed feelings: I was appreciated in this European country and I received arrest warrants in my country, where I had many successes”.
Source: Today IT
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
