Iran's top-ranked chess player Sara Khadem would reportedly move to Spain to avoid backlash for contesting international competitions sans hijab in support of anti-hijab protests in her country.
Sara Kahdem, ranked 804th in the world and 10th in Iran is reportedly not planning to return to her home country and would set up residence in an unnamed Spanish city. Khadem and her husband, the film director Ardeshir Ahmadi, and the couple’s young child will set up residence in an unnamed Spanish city, The Guardian reported. However, it was unclear whether the family has taken Spanish citizenship.
Sara Khadem competed at the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan, without the hijab - a headscarf mandatory under Iran's strict dress codes.
Protests have been raging in Iran since the death of a 22-year-old girl Mahsa Amini allegedly in the custody of morality police. Amini was arrested by the force allegedly for not wearing her hijab properly. The protests first focused on the state-mandated hijab, or headscarf, for women, but has since morphed into one of the most serious threats to the Islamic Republic since the chaotic years following its founding.
Iranian authorities have cracked down hard on the protests and accused foreign nations of instigating the protests. According to reports, as many as 507 protesters had been killed including 69 minors.
