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A huge crowd greeted climber Elnaz Rekabi as she arrived back in Iran – hailed a hero for competing without a hijab.

Wearing a baseball cap and hoodie – and seeming nervous – she repeated a claim some say was made under pressure that she forgot her headscarf ‘because I was busy putting on my shoes and my gear’.

She insisted her flight back from the event in South Korea was as planned, despite fears her phone and passport were seized by government officials.

Around 200 people have died in protests at Iran’s strict head covering rule for women since Mahsa Amini, 22, died in custody after morality police detained her for not wearing one last month.

Ms Rekabi, 33, said: ‘I came back to Iran with peace of mind but I had a lot of tension and stress. But so far, thank God, nothing has happened.’

A fan gave her flowers, then she was driven slowly from Tehran airport in a van as supporters chanted her name.

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