‘It’s women, life, and freedom. Which one of these words is wrong?’

FIDE

I’d like to begin with the FIDE story. As I understand, you got dismissed from being an arbiter after wearing “inappropriate clothing”. Could you tell me a bit more? How did the events unfold, who did not like the outfits?

I was in the Fischer Random World Chess Championship in October 2022 [in Reykjavik]. It was around the same time when a young woman Mahsa Amini was killed in Iran by the morality police (22-year-old Iranian woman Mahsa Amini was arrested by Iran’s morality police for not “properly” wearing a mandatory hijab. She died in a hospital in Tehran a few days later which sparked a series of anti-government protests across the country — editor’s note). Also, the year 2022 was named the Year of Women in Chess [by FIDE]. So, I decided to show my support for women’s rights. I myself lost my right to live in Iran because of the mandatory hijab rule. 

I wore a T-shirt that read “Woman Life Freedom”, these are important words for women’s rights and human rights in general. I would like to mention that the tournament had no dress code for the referees, I checked that in advance. I wanted to make sure I was not breaking any rules.

After that, I saw that in the pictures posted on the FIDE website, the words on my T-shirt were blurred. I thought “What’s wrong with this message? It’s just women, life, and freedom. Which one of these words is wrong?” I found it strange and decided to wear the T-shirt more because it is my right. The next day someone from FIDE came up to me and asked me not to wear it. I was told that even though it was not against the rules, FIDE feared that everyone would start wearing clothes with different mottos. 

The request to not wear the T-shirt was unofficial so I decided not to obey. I thought, this is my right and this is important. This is a very big moment in history, at least for women’s rights and also for feminism. So I had to stand up.

The day after that I wore the T-shirt again and I saw that Arkady Dvorkovich, FIDE’s president (and Russia’s former Deputy Prime Minister, 2012-2018 — editor’s note), came to the event. 

I knew that my behaviour could have annoyed him, but it shouldn’t have. It shouldn’t have annoyed him as the FIDE president, but it could have as a (former) Russian official. After that, he sent me a private message asking once again to stop wearing the T-shirt. He worded it as a personal request. 

I told Arkady that I was going to think about it, because I wanted to do the right thing. I wore a neutral-coloured outfit for one day, but then thought to myself that I wasn’t actually breaking any rules, but following them, because FIDE’s handbook says we have to support international human rights. I realised that it was Arkady who was actually breaking rules and using his position to prevent me from standing up for the right thing. 

After some consideration, I came to the conclusion that I was right. Arkady is a Russian politician who was trying to put pressure on me, so I decided to send a clearer message. The next day, I came to the tournament wearing blue and yellow clothes. 

Did you end up getting dismissed from FIDE events? 

For the last two days of the tournament, I wore blue and yellow clothes. They couldn’t dismiss me officially because I was not breaking any rules. I also asked them to put the request in writing, but they wouldn’t do it: they knew they were in the wrong. 

After the tournament, the new composition of FIDE commissions came out. Everything stayed the same, except I was the only person who got dismissed from all the commissions. This is so awkward when you realise that it is the same year when FIDE gave me the prize for Best European Female Arbiter. 

Basically, I did not get banned officially, because that would be against the law. But I was put in “a queue”, I am not being invited to tournaments anymore.

What does the “Woman Life Freedom” slogan you wore on the T-shirt mean to you? 

For years, women in Iran have been treated like second-class citizens. The word “women” represents equality, not just in Iran but also globally. “Life” represents the right to have a normal life, which Iranians do not have at the moment. The regime has intervened in every aspect of their life and doesn’t allow them to be themselves. The third is “freedom” which is something we do not have. 

Iran

There’s a huge number of restrictions women in Iran have to face in their day-to-day lives. What are some ways in which injustice shows itself? 

There are many ridiculous things. One of them is the hijab. There is another which basically values a woman as half a man. What that means is if a man kills a woman, he doesn’t get a death sentence, but if it’s the other way around, if a woman kills a man, she gets sentenced to the death penalty. For a man to receive the same sentence, he needs to kill two women. So, a woman is just a half.

Women in Iran do not have the right to request a divorce, they do not get custody over children if their husbands leave them. Women cannot travel or even get a passport without a permission from her husband or a male relative. In Iran, if you are a woman stuck in a bad marriage, you cannot even defend yourself, because you are not protected by law. In every aspect of their lives, women are treated as slaves. 

You’ve been living in London for a couple of years now. When and how did you make the decision to leave Iran?

I was raised in a normal, liberal family, so the situation was much easier for me. Besides, my husband is a supporter of women’s rights, so he gave me all my rights voluntarily. I wasn’t experiencing a lot of the treatment I mentioned before, but I could see what was happening to people around me. 

I was, however, forced to come live in the UK after the Women’s World Chess Championship 2020 which took place in China on 3-24 January. In one of the pictures from the tournament, I was wearing a hijab, which I was forced to do, it was not a choice. My hair was showing a bit, which is very normal. If you look at pictures of Iranian women, you’ll see many of them showing some hair. 

But I got a message from the president of the Iranian Chess Federation telling me that my headscarf was not proper. I thought they were just harassing me, so the next day, I wore my hijab in a way that showed a bit more hair, because it was still seen as acceptable usually. 

After that, I saw that my photo was all over Iranian media, including the morality police website, claiming that I was not wearing a headscarf and condemning me in different ways. People started telling me that it was not safe for me to go back to Iran.

The president of the Iranian Chess Federation asked me to write an apology letter. Around the same time, I got another message from some government officials giving me a list of things I must do. They asked me to praise the Iranian leaders, including Qasem Soleimani who was killed by the US in 2020 for being a terrorist, and say that all my achievements belong to the regime. They also instructed me to wear all black and cover my head completely. I didn’t want to do any of those things, it was disgusting. 

Many things were happening around that time. On 8 January 2020, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard shot down a Ukrainian plane (a civilian plane en route from Tehran to Kyiv. The attack killed all 176 passengers and crew. The Iranian government later confirmed that the plane was shut down after being mistakenly identified as a missile — editor’s note). On the same day, I decided not to follow the instructions anymore, because I was fed up. I just took my headscarf off and went to the tournament. I wanted them to see that I was not going to follow any of these rules and I was going to stand up for my right, which is also the right of all Iranian women to dress and look how they want.

I thought of it as a statement that would say that I’d be safe if I came back. But they refused to issue such a letter. If I went back, I would get a minimum punishment of 75 lashes, they would abolish my passport.

I had to find another place to go. I got in touch with the English Chess Federation, they helped me find a lawyer and this is how I ended up here. 

Do you think that within your lifetime, the regime in Iran will change and you’ll be able to go back home? 

Yes, I can definitely see it now, we are very close. Since I left Iran, many things have changed. In 2019, I participated in some demonstrations in the country. At the time, we couldn’t see it, but now we have that vision. 

A ‘man’s game’

How did you first start playing chess? 

When I was a kid, all the sports were separated [by gender], so men couldn’t come and watch women compete. If I had chosen to do tennis, swimming, badminton or any other sport, my father wouldn’t have been able to take me. Even if I were a champion in my country, only my mother would be able to watch. I would also not be able to compete internationally because I wouldn’t be allowed to be seen without a headscarf. 

The idea is you cannot play the majority of these sports without covering yourself. My options were limited, so my father suggested chess, because you can play it while wearing a headscarf. This meant he could take me [to practise] and support me. 

I really like chess. There’s always room for learning, it’s based on logic, calculations, and there’s lots of beauty in the game. It’s also a cultural thing in Iran. We believe that chess originated in Iran, even though Indian people make the same claim. The game appeared in many poems in Iran. I love Persian literature, and there are many mentions of chess. It’s a very important game to me, we used to play it at family gatherings. That’s part of the reason why my father decided to introduce me to chess.

I won the under-12 championship in Iran in my age category. After that, my father managed to get permission to let me play against men. We weren’t allowed to do that before.

Why do you think there’s this stereotype that chess is a “man’s game"?

I think the problem is the number of women. If we have more women in chess, these problems will be solved. I have experienced loads of problems because when I was young, I was the only girl who played at men’s events. 

I’ve experienced a harsh environment, especially considering that it’s a men-dominated country, and there were cultural and religious issues. I couldn’t talk to people easily or find friends. I would go and help out the arbiters because that’s where I would feel safer. That’s how my arbiter’s career started. It was better than being in the tournament, because there was nobody else of my gender there. The arbiters were also men, but they were nice people. 

There’s a series of women-only titles given by FIDE. How do you feel about this need to distinguish between men and women? On the one hand, it makes sense as other sports do it, too. But then on the other hand, chess does not require physical strength, so this separation seems kind of discriminatory.

Initially, I thought this is a good idea to encourage more women in chess. But then I changed my mind because it kind of teaches us that we can gain things easier. This means that we don’t expect a high level from ourselves. This is something that stops us from competing to reach the top level. 

Because women can gain titles at lower levels and then become grandmasters. We don’t aim for the best. I don’t support women’s titles. It just stops us from being better.