DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran’s only female Olympic medalist said she defected from the Islamic Republic in a blistering online letter that describes herself as “one of the millions of oppressed women in Iran.”
Taekwondo athlete Kimia Alizadeh posted the letter on Instagram as semiofficial Iranian news agency ISNA said she had fled to the Netherlands. She criticized wearing the mandatory hijab headscarf and accused officials in Iran of sexism and mistreatment.
“Whatever they said, I wore,” Alizadeh wrote in the letter posted Saturday. “Every sentence they ordered, I repeated.”
She described the decision to leave Iran as difficult but necessary.
Ex-Duke football murder suspect keeps returning home after arrests thanks to soft-on-crime judges: police rep
Karen Read judge sued over ‘buffer zone’ keeping protesters away from courthouse
Trump taps longtime lawyer for MAGA allies Stanley Woodward for top DOJ post
Blagojevich has new job working for ‘Bosnian Bear’ politician with ties to Putin
DOGE uncovers VA’s agreement to pay $380K per month for minor website modifications
Transportation Sec Sean Duffy slams blue state governor, says criminals ‘continue to terrorize’ city residents
Ted Cruz clashes with key Democrat over ‘second phase of lawfare’ through federal judges’ orders
Georgia father arrested after leaving children at McDonald’s for job interview, sparking debate
American Airlines flight to Tokyo from NYC diverted to Texas for ‘maintenance issue’
Man charged with making threats against ICE agents, DHS Sec Kristi Noem in ‘alarming’ social media posts
SCOOP: White House rallies House GOP on Trump tariff plan in secret call
Fox News ratings surge in first quarter of 2025 with help from The Five and Special Report
‘False’: Trump admin rebukes claims intel officials are frequently using Signal to send classified info
It’s Official: Liberation Day Is Here, And the List of Tariffs Is a MAGA Dream Come True
Every Wisconsin county shifted left in state Supreme Court race
There was no immediate reaction from Iranian authorities. ISNA said Alizadeh had been reported injured and unable to compete. Its report suggested Alizadeh might try to compete under another nation’s flag at the 2020 Olympic games in Tokyo.
Alizadeh, 21, won a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Her defection comes amid unprecedentedly high tensions between Iran and the United States.
In recent years, many Iranian athletes have left their country, citing government pressure. In September, Saeid Mollaei, an Iranian judoka, left the country for Germany. He said Iranian officials had forced him to not compete with Israeli judoka.
Alireza Faghani, an Iranian international soccer referee, also left Iran last year, for Australia.
Story cited here.
