Iranian chess player competes in world championship without hijab, warned not to come home

(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Sara Khadem, born Sarasadat Khademalsharieh in Iran, has defected to an undisclosed city in Spain with her husband, film director Ardeshir Ahmadi, and their young child. Why did she make this decision? She defied the Iranian dress code for women by refusing to wear a headscarf when she competed at the 2022 FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships. Sara was warned not to return to Iran.

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A Spanish newspaper, El Pais, reported that two sources close to her confirmed the news. Sara has not made any public statements about her defection.

Sara and another woman, Atousa Pourkashiyan, who is of Iranian descent but lives in the United States, caused quite a stir at this year’s most prestigious championships for speed chess held in Almaty, Kazakhstan because neither wore headscarves. As noted on social media, it may seem like a small defiance but we know the implications. Sara would likely face some sort of punishment as retaliation from the Iranian regime if she returned home.

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Sara is the 10th highest-rated player in Iran and number 17 on the world rankings for women. She received many phone calls in which people warned her against returning home after the tournament, while others said she should come back, promising to “solve her problem.” Her parents and relatives are still in Iran. They have received threats, which tracks with how other competitors have been treated by members of the regime, like the World Cup soccer players. The phone calls prompted championship organizers to provide security for Sara with the cooperation of Kazakh police. She was provided with four bodyguards which were stationed outside her hotel room.

Iranian laws enforcing mandatory hijab wearing have become a flashpoint during the protests seen since mid-September. The protests are led by women who often remove their headscarves publicly, some burning them in protest. Other women cut their hair as an act of protest. The protests are a true challenge to the Iranian regime, the strongest challenge it has faced since the 1979 revolution. Iranians from all walks of life, all across the country, are taking part in the demonstrations against the regime.

Leaked documents have come to light this week that the regime has “lost control of the universities’ and says “the young are speaking a language we don’t understand.” Student leaders are inspiring demonstrations. The paramilitary guards share fears the Islamic theocracy can’t quash dissent among its educated young people. And police are demanding a pay raise after three months of protests.

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Akef, a student from Tehran, crept up to the paramilitary base along with seven others in the dead of night and began dousing the steps of an Iranian Revolution Guard Corps office with petrol.

It had been raining during the night, so they’d borrowed a four-litre petrol can from a local taxi driver, which they upended into a rubbish tip outside the office on Saadat Abad, Second Street.

One elderly resident began throwing down old blankets from her balcony in an attempt to aid the resistance unit, but by that, time plainclothes police had spotted the smoke billowing up into the smoggy sky, sending Akef’s team running.

Akef has watched dozens of his fellow Iranian killed over the past few months, he said.

‘Our only goal is to liberate our country and overthrow the regime,’ said Akef. ‘Work and life are not really worth it for us now. Our whole goal is to continue this uprising.

Students continue to join in the protests. Some use homemade Molotov cocktails or fireworks to harass Iranian forces. Akef claims thousands of operations are carried out throughout the country. Last week, regime forces shot university student Omid Moavidi in the back as he fled the city of Shiraz. Then, he said, the regime forces shot him in the back of the head.

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The women who began the protests are to be admired for their bravery and desire for freedom. The university students and others joining in are to be commended for their bravery, too. I’m skeptical they will eventually be successful in overthrowing the regime but it’s worth noting that this movement is the strongest one against those in power since the 1979 revolution.

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