(CNN) — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said he was inspired by Iranian chess player Sara Khadem, who recently competed in an international tournament without wearing a headscarf.
According to Reuters, Sarah, also known as Sara Sadat Khadem al-Sharia, moved to Spain due to fears of returning to Iran.
On Wednesday, Sanchez posted pictures on Twitter of the two of them playing chess together during a meeting in Madrid, and Sarah appears in the picture while she is not wearing a headscarf.
Sanchez wrote in a tweet: “I learned a lot from an inspiring woman today, Sarah Khadem Al-Sharia, a great master of women’s chess, all my support for female athletes, people like you contribute to a better world.”
And last December, Khadem appeared in pictures published by the Iranian media platform Jamaran without a headscarf, which is mandatory under the dress code in Iran, while participating in the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
In an interview with Spanish newspaper El Pais, Khadem explained why she did not wear a hijab at the tournament in December. “Honestly, even before I competed in this tournament, I never wore a hijab,” she said. She added, “I mean, I only put it in front of the cameras because I was representing Iran. Somehow it didn’t feel good not to be myself, so I decided not to do that anymore.” CNN reached out to Sara Khadem via Instagram.
And Sara Khadem, ranked ninth-best in Iran, is one of a number of female athletes who have appeared at a sporting event without a headscarf since anti-government protests erupted last September, sparked by the death of Iranian-Kurdish girl Mahsa Amini.
Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, died in mid-September after being detained by the country’s morality police, allegedly for not adhering to Iran’s conservative dress code, sparking public outrage over a range of grievances against the regime.
In October, Iranian climber Elnaz Rekabi competed in South Korea without wearing her headscarf, which she later said fell by mistake. However, it is not clear whether Rekabi’s statements were coerced.
In November, Iranian archer Parmida Ghasemi showed her support for the anti-government protests by removing her veil during an awards ceremony in Tehran, and later said she had not noticed it falling.
On the other hand, Iran’s deputy sports minister, Maryam Kazhimipour, said in November that the athletes who acted against Islamic norms “regretted” their actions afterwards, and were “looking for an opportunity to compensate for their mistake,” she claimed.
In 2020, Iranian chess referee Shohreh Bayat was criticized in Iran for not wearing a headscarf appropriately at the Women’s World Chess Championships in China and Russia. She refused to bow to the regime’s pressure, but as a result, she did not return home, fearing punishment.
