Iranian climber Elnaz Rekabi is under house arrest without access to a cell phone

MADRID, 22 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Iranian climber Elnaz Rekabi, who was detained by Iranian authorities after competing in South Korea without a headscarf, has reportedly been forced to apologize and remains under house arrest without access to a mobile phone, BBC Persian has learned.

The 33-year-old athlete would have suffered threats that her family's properties would be taken away if she did not make that statement, according to a source transmitted to the aforementioned chain, which also points out that Rekabi is being held at her home although the authorities defend that "he stays at home because he needs to rest".

The climber was greeted by a crowd on her return to Tehran, after being reported missing on Tuesday, shouting "heroin" despite the fact that she herself has insisted that she competed without a veil it was by accident, not as a political gesture against the Government of the Islamic Republic.

That same day he met with the Sports Minister, Said Hamid Sajjadi, where they discussed aspects related to his professional development and his participation in the competition, according to the IRNA news agency.

Some media highlight that at that time it was striking that the Iranian was wearing the same clothes at the meeting as when she arrived in the country, which raised suspicions that she had not been at home during that time, which her source attributes to the fact that she was detained in a room of the Iranian National Olympic Committee.