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.
BREAKING: Federal Judge Rules ICE Cannot Re-Detain Kilmar Abrego Garcia
Latina House Republican asks Supreme Court to block Dems’ bid to ‘racially gerrymander’ her out of Congress
Springsteen jabs Trump as ‘wannabe king’ as famed rocker launches concert tour ‘in defense of America’
Cheer mom, daughter dead in apparent murder-suicide after years-long custody fight: docs
Will Conservative Supreme Court Justices Step Down While Trump Can Still Replace Them? Midterm Results Might Force the Issue
Abrego Garcia to remain free from ICE custody as judge OKs travel for Tennessee hearing
Five injured, including firefighter, in church explosion following reported gas leak in upstate New York
Vance and Rubio would give GOP ‘potent one-two punch’ for 2028 ticket: Joe Concha
NBC News Buries Background of Latest Trans Mass Shooting Suspect – He ‘Also Went by the First Name Roberta’
Obama dragged for ‘headache’-inducing presidential center update that has visitors squinting
Minnesota Democrats demand reparations from ICE after losing $18 billion to Somali fraud
Dems Try to Cancel Republican Congressman After He Declares Americans Will Not Give Up Dogs to Appease NYC’s Muslims
Hamas dismisses Israel threat to ‘complete the mission’ if terrorist group doesn’t disarm
Mainstream liberals join Soros in bankrolling group backing DC jury nullification effort
Trump hammers AOC Munich stumbles as ‘not a good look for the United States’
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.
