An Iranian chess player who defected to Spain after she competed without a hijab and was warned not to return to her country met with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Madrid on Wednesday.
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez meets with Iranian chess player Sara Khadem in Madrid, Spain, January 25, 2023. Moncloa Palace/ Borja Puig de la Bellacasa /Handout via REUTERS
Sarasadat Khademalsharieh, 25, better known as Sara Khadem, arrived in Spain in early January. She had taken part in the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships held in Kazakhstan's Almaty in late December without a hijab - a headscarf mandatory under Iran's strict Islamic dress codes. Demonstrations against Iran's clerical leadership have swept the country since mid-September when a 22-year-old Iranian-Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, died in the custody of the morality police, which had detained her for wearing "inappropriate attire".
In a recent interview with newspaper El País, Khadem - who holds the title of Woman Grandmaster - said she only used to wear the headscarf at tournaments when there were cameras because she was representing Iran.
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