While women in Iran are protesting against their oppression, which includes being forced to wear headscarves, Iranian top player Sara Kadem played at the Women's World Rapid Chess and Blitz Championship in Almaty without the headscarf imposed by her state. By then she had already decided to leave her country and go into exile. She follows in the footsteps of many other Iranian chess players who have gone before her.
Sara Khadem now lives with her family in Spain.
The Spanish chess journalist Leontxo Garcia recently interviewed Sara Khadem for the Spanish newspaper El Pais, and in this interview she spoke about her motives to leave Iran. Now the British BBC has also spoken to Sara Khadem.

Links