An Iranian climber who caused a sensation by competing at an event abroad without a hijab was given a hero’s welcome. On her return to Tehran supporters raucously applauded her actions. Iran has been shaken by the women-led protests over the death of Mahsa Amini one month ago. Mahsa Amini was killed by the so-called “moral police” for not covering her head properly in Kurdish. Since then protest has erupted in Iran.

Elnaz Rekabi flew back to Tehran airport after a competition in South Korea. “Elnaz is a hero” and “well done Elnaz!” chanted dozens of supporters who gathered outside the Imam Khomeini International Airport terminal. Supporters and Farsi-language media outside of Iran have worried about Rekabi’s safety after she chooses to go without the hijab. Later, in an Instagram post, she posted that her not wearing a hijab was “unintentional”. The Iranian government routinely pressures activists at home and abroad, often airing what rights groups describe as coerced confessions on state television. Iranian women competing abroad under the Iranian flag always wear the hijab.

“Concern for her safety remains”, said the New York-based Centre of Human Rights in Iran(CHRI). But the Islamic republic has been repeatedly accused by activists of coercing people into making statements of remorse. The British actress of Iranian origin Nazanin Boniadi is an ambassador for Amnesty International in the UK. She tweeted that it is clear that Ms Rekabi had been “forced to make this statement by authorities that constantly use forced and televised confessions”. Observers “should not be swayed by state propaganda”, the CHRI said.

The theocratic society of Iran has been facing massive protests from workers to women and 200 people have been killed in the protest so far. It is evident women have come up in order to protest against the heinous crime of the morality police, and women have been cutting their hair and burning hijabs, in order to show solidarity with the 22-year-old girl. Ms Rekabi’s act of not participating with hijab is an act of solidarity!

Iran embassy declines all news as “fake”