An Iranian international chess referee has said she is afraid to return to home after state media published photographs of her apparently not wearing a hijab as is mandatory for women under Iranian law.

Shohreh Bayat, 32, became one of the most prominent Iranian women in international chess after she refereed the Women’s World Chess Championship in Shanghai this week.

But her achievement was overshadowed by a storm of controversy after she a photograph was published in which her hijab was not visible. Ms Bayat says she was in fact wearing the headscarf but the picture had already been widely circulated in Iran.

The chess master has since been bombarded with threats by Iranian conservatives and she fears she could be arrested if she returns home to Iran.

"I turned on my mobile and saw that my picture was everywhere, Ms Bayat told the BBC. “They were claiming I was not wearing a headscarf and that I wanted to protest against the hijab.”

She said Iran’s chess federation refused to write a letter guaranteeing her safety and instead tried to pressure her into writing an apology for the incident. She refused.

"There are many people in prison in Iran because of the headscarf. It's a very serious issue. Maybe they'd want to make an example of me," she said, adding that she was "totally panicked" by the situation.