An Iranian female chess player who competed abroad without a hijab has fled to Spain after receiving warnings to not return home to Iran, according to a report Tuesday.
Sara Khadem, also known as Sarasadat Khademalsharieh, competed in the Blitz Chess Championships and the FIDE World Rapid last week in Almaty, Kazakhstan, without a hijab, which is compulsory for women under Iranian law.
A source close to the player said she received multiple phone calls telling her to not return to Iran, according to the report in Rooters.
Other callers told her she should come back, with promises to "solve her problem." Her parents and relatives in Iran
...The nation is noted for spontaneouslytaking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet
militiasto extend the regime's influence...
have also received threats.
According to the source, because of the phone calls she received, tournament organizers decided to provide Khadem with security and in cooperation with Kazakh police, four security guards were stationed outside her hotel room during her stay in the country.
Khadem, who arrived in Spain Tuesday, intends to settle there along with her husband, film director Ardeshir Ahmadi, and their young child, the Spanish daily El Pais reported.
Sources told El Pais the couple owns an apartment in Spain, but they are keeping quiet about exactly where they plan to live. It was not clear if they intend to apply for asylum or obtain residency.