The fate of Elnaz Rekabi, an Iranian sport climber who competed at the Asian Championships without a headscarf last Sunday, remains the concern of many since she disappeared two days after participating in the tournament in South Korea.
Tehran later said Rekabi was on her way to return to Iran voluntarily. Despite Tehran’s announcement, activists say she might have been forced to return early and faced the threat of arrest.
The BBC's Persian service, which has extensive contacts within Iran despite being banned from operating there, quoted an unnamed "informed source" who described Iranian officials as seizing both Rekabi’s mobile phone and passport.
BBC Persian also said she initially had been scheduled to return on Wednesday, but her flight apparently had been moved up unexpectedly.
IranWire, another website focusing on the country, founded by Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari who once was detained by Iran, alleged that Rekabi would be immediately transferred to Tehran's notorious Evin prison.
Rekabi, 33, said her hijab had fallen off “inadvertently.”
However many are skeptical about the explanation given on her Instagram, believing it was written under duress.
In other news, Switzerland is considering whether to adopt the strengthened European Union sanctions against Iran following Tehran's crackdown against demonstrators outraged by the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.
The Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (WBF) said it had noted the EU had extended sanctions to a further 11 individuals and four organizations in connection with the death of Amini and the reaction to the demonstrations.
"The department is currently reviewing further steps," the WBF told Reuters in a statement.
As many as 23 children have been killed in ongoing mass protests in Iran, a spokesperson for the United Nations human rights office told a briefing in Geneva on Tuesday. At least 90 members of civil society including human rights defenders, lawyers, artists, and journalists have also been arrested.
