Spain grants citizenship to Iranian chess player

Madrid grants Spanish citizenship to Iranian chess player Sara Khadem who defied hijab rule.

The Spanish government has granted Spanish citizenship to Sara Khadem, the Iranian chess player who sought refuge in Spain after participating in an international tournament in December without wearing the mandatory hijab, according to an official source.

The Spanish Minister of Justice, Pilar Llop, clarified in the official gazette that, "given the exceptional circumstances of Ms. Sara Sadat Khadem," her full name, "she has been granted Spanish citizenship."

The decision was made during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, as stated by the same source.

The 26-year-old player holds the title of Woman Grandmaster and is ranked 15th in the world rankings by the International Chess Federation. In December 2022, she participated in the World Rapid Chess Championship in Kazakhstan without wearing the compulsory hijab for women in Iran.

In an interview with AFP in February, she explained that she took this action in support of the protest movement that erupted after the death of Mahsa Amini in September of the previous year. Mahsa Amini died after being arrested by the police for violating strict dress codes in Iran.

Her relatives said that she would face arrest if she returned to Iran. Consequently, Sara Khadem decided to go to Spain with her husband and child, where they currently reside.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez received Sara Khadem in January and played a chess match with her.

In 2020, she was banned from traveling for six months after withdrawing from the Iranian national team in protest against an incident when the Iranian air defenses "mistakenly" shot down a Ukrainian Boeing plane, killing 176 people, according to Tehran.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AFP