The Iranian chess player who competed without a veil meets the Prime Minister of Spain

An Iranian chess player, who fled to Spain after competing without a headscarf and was warned not to return to her country, met on Wednesday in Madrid with Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, according to reports. Reuters.

Sarasadat Khadem the sailor, 25, known as Sara Khadem, arrived in Spain at the beginning of January. She had competed in the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships, held in Almaty, Kazakhstan, at the end of December, without a headscarf, which is mandatory under Iran’s strict Islamic dress code.

“How much I learned today from a woman who inspires me,” Sanchez wrote on his Twitter account after receiving a servant at his official residence, the Moncloa Palace.

“All my support is for mathematics. Your example contributes to a better world,” she added.

Read: Iran imposes sanctions on the European Union and the United Kingdom in a retaliatory gesture

In the photographs provided by the Presidency of the Government, a servant is seen talking with Sanchez on the sofa, wearing a black suit and without a headscarf. Later they are shown playing chess on a table.

Demonstrations against Iran’s religious leadership have spread across the country since mid-September, when a 22-year-old Iranian-Kurdish girl, Mohsa Amini, died in the custody of the morality police, who arrested her for wearing “indecent clothes”. . “.

Mandatory hijab laws have become a flashpoint during the unrest, with a number of female athletes competing abroad appearing sans headscarves in public.

In a recent interview with the newspaper Country, Khadem – who holds the title of Grandmaster – stated that he only used to wear a hijab in tournaments where there were cameras because he represented Iran.

“With the hijab, it’s not me, I don’t feel good, that’s why I wanted to end this situation,” she said. “So I decided not to take it anymore.”

Khadem ranks 771st in the world, according to the FIDE website, and 9th in Iran.