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Footage had shown Rekabi, 33, scaling a wall without her head
covered while competing in South Korea while representing Iran,
which has been swept by protests ignited by Mahsa Amini's death
in morality police custody.
In comments to state TV upon her arrival in Tehran, Rekabi said
she had returned in "full health" and apologised to "the people
of Iran for the turbulence and worry that I created", her head
covered by a baseball cap and a hood as she spoke.
“The struggle that I had with wearing my shoes and preparing my
gear made me forget about the proper hijab that I should have
had, and I went to the wall and ascended," she added.
A crowd of well-wishers cheered, clapped and recorded the scene
on mobile phones as she was driven away from the airport,
according to footage posted on Twitter.
In a statement published on her Instagram account on Tuesday,
Rekabi cited poor scheduling as the reason she had competed
without a headscarf, saying she had been called to climb
unexpectedly.
In her televised comments Rekabi, who came fourth in the
competition, denied she had been unreachable for 48 hours, and
said the team had returned to Iran as planned. She said she had
no plan to quit the national team.
BBC Persian had reported on Tuesday that friends had been unable
to contact her, and there were fears for her safety. Iran’s
embassy in South Korea, on Twitter, denied reports about her
going missing after the competition.
Amini died last month while in the custody of the Islamic
Republic's morality police who detained her for "inappropriate
attire", prompting nationwide protests during which women have
removed and burned headscarves.
The protests ignited by Amini's death have grown into one of the
boldest challenges to the Islamic Republic since the 1979
revolution, though the unrest does not appear close to toppling
the system.
(Reporting by Dubai Newsroom; Editing by Tom Perry, William
Maclean)
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