The fear of the Iranian chess player who took refuge in Spain for having played without a veil: “The government could persecute us in other countries”

Last December, the Iranian Sarah Khadem She appeared unveiled at a chess tournament and her image went viral around the world as a symbol of protest against the Islamic Republic. After that, the woman was forced into exile in Spain with her husband because of the political pressure exerted on her and the terror she felt. Now he gave a brief interview to the agency AFP in which he tells how he lives these days away from his homeland.

The life of the chess grandmaster, 17th player in the world at 25, changed during the world rapid game championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan. That’s when appeared without the hijab, the Islamic veil, so as not to “betray” the protest movement that broke out in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini on September 16 while in custody.

“The Iranian government might persecute us even in other countries. They’ve done it before with other Iranians,” he said in the interview, asking that his current location not be published.

Reproduced around the world, his unveiled photo did not escape the Iranian authorities. A knowledgeable person she knew told her that she had an arrest warrant and that she would be “arrested upon her return to Iran”. Unable to even carry a chessboard with her, she traveled to Spain with her husband, Ardeshir Ahmadi, a 32-year-old Iranian-Canadian director and former television presenter, and their one-year-old son.

“I never wore it regularly,” he said of the veil, as it seemed “hypocritical” to do “something in front of the cameras that you don’t believe in.” It should be remembered that the authorities demanded that she apologize, but she refused. “The reason was personal, but the timing of doing it obviously had to do with what was happening in Iran… We feel very inspired and encouraged” by the protests and by the Iranian personalities who dared to lift the veil , she added. added.

“Abandoning Iran completely was not something we thought about,” he assured, explaining that moving away from his parents “was the most difficult decision” of his life. Sara – who prefers not to use her full surname, Khademalsharieh, servant of religion-, explained that he entered Spain with a visa he had obtained for chess tournaments.

Now she and her husband have a residence permit granted by the Spanish State for the purchase of a property worth at least 500,000 euros (530,000 dollars). The chess player, who was received in January by the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, with whom she played a game, is aware of her luck, because “it is not easy for many Iranians to obtain a visa, due to the current situation.”

Khadem had already suffered the wrath of the Iranian regime in 2020, when he was banned from traveling for six months for withdrawing from the Iranian national team in protest against the slaughter, “by mistake” according to Tehran, of a Ukrainian Boeing by the Iranian. the army, an accident in which 176 people died. “It was a huge parenthesis (…), a horrible feeling, I thought it was the end of my career”, recalls the young woman who has been playing chess since the age of 8 and who sacrificed some of his schooling for the game.”I had to promise “to the authorities” that I would not emigrate”, he confides, with a smile.

Before that, he had already made a name for himself by publicly supporting Iranian chess prodigy Alireza Firouzja. A French national, he left his country after the federation banned him from participating in the world rapid games championship in December 2019 for fear of facing Israeli players.

Sarah Khadem she hopes to return to competition soon, either as a member of the board of directors or as a commentator. Moreover, he is optimistic about the future of his country: “Maybe a big change requires more sacrifices.” And he added: “I think there will come a day when we can all go home.”

With information from AFP

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