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.
Religion of Peace: Man Who Tried to Take Out Synagogue Using Explosive-Packed Truck Was Dearborn-Area Muslim Acting for Hezbollah
Former Rep. MTG vents that she’s ‘so beyond done,’ characterizing Trump’s address as ‘WAR WAR WAR’
Earthquake rattles northern California major cities
FLASHBACK: Dem senate candidate was critical vote in confirming judge who tied voter ID to ‘White supremacy’
Once a Kamala Harris donor, this Arkansas Democrat is steering clear of the former vice president
Major teachers union funds group planning to stage anti-ICE protests at public schools
Fort Hood soldiers shift to underground training to prepare for battlefield medical care
Local Dem leader says he was not ‘an aggressor’ after arrest for hitting man with bullhorn at ‘No Kings’ rally
NYPD cop’s killer convicted of manslaughter, not guilty of murder after split jury ordered to deliberate more
Sham Philadelphia coffee shop hiding crack operation busted in sweeping raid, 17 arrested: AG
Behind the scenes of Congress’ eleventh-hour rush to fund the DHS
Trump says Iran ‘no longer a threat’ after 32 days — outlines next phase of US war
FBI investigated former Capitol Police officer in Jan. 6 pipe bomb case, filings say
Illegal Alien Charged with Murdering 3-Month-Old Infant
Listen: Ketanji Brown Jackson Sparks Derision During Supreme Court Oral Arguments with Bizarre Tangent About Stealing Wallets
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.
