Thread by @HillelNeuer

BREAKING: BBC Persian reports that Iranian sport climber Elnaz Rekabi has now gone missing. Yesterday she competed without the regime’s compulsory headscarf at the International Federation of Sport Climbing’s Asian Championships in Seoul.

Friends of Elnaz Rekabi told the BBC they have not been able to contact her since last night. An informed source said that Ms. Rakabi's passport and mobile phone were taken from her.

The night manager at Seoul Garden Hotel told BBC Persian that the Iran team checked out earlier today. They are meant to return to Tehran on Wednesday. But a source has told BBC Persian that Elnaz’s passport and mobile phone have been confiscated. @MOFAkr_eng, where is she?

Update 1:

https://twitter.com/hillelneuer/status/1582196700999208960

Update 2: #ElnazRekabi posted on Instagram that the “problem” with her hijab happened “unintentionally”; due to “improper timing & the unforeseen invitation for me to climb, my outfit was inadvertently problematic.”

“I, Elnaz Rekabi, with more than 20 years of experience in the national Iranian rock climbing team, apologize for the concerns I created.” She said she’s returning to Iran with her team “according to the prior schedule.”

All of this sounds forced. We should be VERY concerned.

I posted this 🧵 of photos and videos of #ElnazRekabi to show people how amazing she is, in the hope of mobilizing world pressure on the Iranian regime to free her immediately.

https://twitter.com/hillelneuer/status/1582308787343351808

Update #3: We have 9 hours & 15 minutes left to save #ElnazRekabi before Flight QR 490 takes off & her to an unknown fate in Tehran. She’s now in Doha airport. We urge @HIAQatar @qatarairways @TamimBinHamad to protect her. Every indication is that she’s being held under duress.

Her brother Daoud was forced by the regime to say: “My sister Elnaz will return to Iran because she is a child of Iran. Elnaz loves Iran very much. We will definitely hold a press conference after her return and my sister will explain the circumstances.”
tasnimnews.com/fa/news/1401/0…