An Iranian chess player, who moved to Spain after she competed without a hijab and had an arrest warrant issued against her back home, has no regrets over her bold gesture in support of the protest movement against her country's clerical leadership.
But 25-year-old Sarasadat Khademalsharieh, better known as Sara Khadem, also told Reuters that the warrant, which made her return to Iran impossible, was "the most horrible thing" that happened to her.
She said that after playing in December's FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan, without the headscarf, mandatory under Iran's strict Islamic dress code, she did not expect a reprisal more serious than a travel ban.