Report: Iranian Chess Player Was Warned Not to Return to Iran after Competing without Hijab

Chess - FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2022 - Blitz Women - Almaty, Kazakhstan - December 30, 2022. Sara Khadem of Iran sits in front of a chess board during a game. (Reuters)
Chess - FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2022 - Blitz Women - Almaty, Kazakhstan - December 30, 2022. Sara Khadem of Iran sits in front of a chess board during a game. (Reuters)
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Report: Iranian Chess Player Was Warned Not to Return to Iran after Competing without Hijab

Chess - FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2022 - Blitz Women - Almaty, Kazakhstan - December 30, 2022. Sara Khadem of Iran sits in front of a chess board during a game. (Reuters)
Chess - FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2022 - Blitz Women - Almaty, Kazakhstan - December 30, 2022. Sara Khadem of Iran sits in front of a chess board during a game. (Reuters)

An Iranian chess player arrived in Spain on Tuesday after receiving what a source close to her said were warnings not to return to Iran for competing without a hijab at an international tournament in Kazakhstan.

Sara Khadem, born in 1997, took part in last week's FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in Almaty without the hijab - a headscarf mandatory under Iran's strict dress codes.

The source, who did not want to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, said Khadem subsequently received multiple phone calls in which individuals warned her against returning home after the tournament, while others said she should come back, promising to "solve her problem".

The source also said Khadem's relatives and parents, who are in Iran, had also received threats, without giving further details.

Iran's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the case.

Khadem, who is also known as Sarasadat Khademalsharieh, arrived in Spain on Tuesday, the source said.

She has not responded to Reuters request for comment. Newspapers including Le Figaro and El Pais reported last week that Khadem would not be returning to Iran and moving to Spain.

The phone calls led to organizers deciding to provide security with the cooperation of Kazakh police, resulting in four bodyguards being stationed outside Khadem's hotel room, the source said.

Iran has been swept by demonstrations against the country's clerical leadership since mid-September, when 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini died in the custody of morality police who detained her for "inappropriate attire."

Khadem is ranked 804 in the world, according to the International Chess Federation website. The website for the Dec. 25-30 event listed her as a participant in both the Rapid and Blitz competitions.

Iran has been swept by demonstrations against the country's clerical leadership since mid-September, when 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini died in the custody of morality police who detained her for "inappropriate attire."

Laws enforcing mandatory hijab wearing have become a flashpoint during the unrest, with a string of sportswomen competing overseas appearing without their headscarves in public.

The protests mark one of the boldest challenges to Iran's leadership since its 1979 revolution and have drawn in Iranians from all walks of life.

Women have played a prominent role, removing and in some cases burning headscarves, while protesters have taken heart from what they have seen as shows of support from both female and male Iranian athletes.



North Korea's Kim Urges Troops to Prepare 'for Real War'

This handout photograph taken and released by the Russian Foreign Ministry on July 12, 2025, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as he attends a meeting with Russia's Foreign Minister in Wonsan.  (Photo by RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY / HANDOUT / AFP)
This handout photograph taken and released by the Russian Foreign Ministry on July 12, 2025, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as he attends a meeting with Russia's Foreign Minister in Wonsan. (Photo by RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY / HANDOUT / AFP)
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North Korea's Kim Urges Troops to Prepare 'for Real War'

This handout photograph taken and released by the Russian Foreign Ministry on July 12, 2025, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as he attends a meeting with Russia's Foreign Minister in Wonsan.  (Photo by RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY / HANDOUT / AFP)
This handout photograph taken and released by the Russian Foreign Ministry on July 12, 2025, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as he attends a meeting with Russia's Foreign Minister in Wonsan. (Photo by RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY / HANDOUT / AFP)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has urged his military to be ready "for real war" as he observed a firing contest of artillery units, Pyongyang state media said Thursday.

Kim's remarks follow the North's deployment of troops and weapons to help Russia during its more than three-year long offensive in Ukraine, AFP reported.

Video footage aired by state-run Korea Central Television on Thursday showed soldiers from artillery units firing shells towards the sea.

Kim is seen looking through binoculars at an observation post, flanked by two military officials, but the location for Wednesday's contest was not disclosed.

He urged the soldiers to be ready "for real war" at "anytime" and be capable of "destroying the enemy in every battle", the Korean Central News Agency reported in an English dispatch.

South Korean and Western intelligence agencies have reported Pyongyang sent more than 10,000 soldiers to Russia's Kursk region last year, along with artillery shells, missiles and long-range rocket systems.

Around 600 North Korean soldiers have been killed and thousands more wounded fighting for Russia, Seoul has said.

Kim offered Moscow his full support for its war in Ukraine during recent talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, state media reported previously.

The two heavily sanctioned nations signed a military deal last year, including a mutual defense clause, during a rare visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to Pyongyang.