A Spanish man who was traveling from Madrid to Doha in preparation for the 2022 FIFA World Cup has been missing for three weeks, according to his family, raising concerns about his whereabouts in a nation gripped by widespread upheaval.
Santiago Sánchez, a 41-year-old skilled hiker, former paratrooper, and ardent soccer fan, was last seen in Iraq after traveling through 15 nations and extensively documenting his adventure on a well-known Instagram account during the previous nine months.
The last time Sánchez's family heard from him was on October 2, a day after he entered Iran from Iraq.
His mother, Celia Cogedor, told The Associated Press, "My husband and I are terribly concerned and we can't stop sobbing."
Santiago Cogedor, father of Cogedor and Sánchez, sat by the fire at the family's house in a village in the center of Spain. The couple shared with journalists the priceless final audio message their son had sent them that morning, allegedly already from Iranian territory and outlining his future plans. They were obviously exhausted.
"I'm being picked up by a friend, who is with me. Sánchez's calm voice announced, "I'm headed to Bandar Abbas, 1,700 kilometers (1,056 miles) south in Iran, close to the island of Hormuz.
The Spanish explorer described his plans to travel to Tehran, the Iranian capital, the next day to conduct an interview with a television station there. He would have taken a boat to Qatar from Bandar Abbas, a port in southern Iran, as his next move. But according to his parents, he vanished completely even before he arrived in Tehran.
Before entering Iran, Sánchez had already informed his family that contact wouldn't be as straightforward as in earlier months.
We stopped worrying about him not blogging after a few days because it matched what he had said. However, after 8 or 9 days, my daughter and his closest friends and I already felt the need to file a missing person's report, his mother added.
On October 17, his parents reported him missing, and they claimed that Spanish authorities and the police were assisting the family.
The Spanish Foreign Ministry stated that it had no knowledge of Sánchez's whereabouts and that the issue was being handled by the Spanish ambassador in Tehran. The Iranian Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond calls seeking comment.
Sanchez had already visited Iran. He cycled a comparable path in 2019 to travel from Madrid to Saudi Arabia.
His parents are pleased with his sense of adventure and claim that his primary objectives are to aid others and support the Real Madrid soccer team.
He hasn't been spreading any propaganda, either in favor of or against any issue. The only thing that motivates him is walking to the World Cup in Qatar on time and cheering for Real Madrid, they claimed.
The reported abduction of Sanchez in Iran coincides with the strongest anti-government uprising in more than a decade, which is sweeping the Islamic Republic. On September 16, protests broke out in response to the murder of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who had been detained by Iran's morality police for allegedly defying the nation's strict Islamic dress code.
Tehran has forcibly suppressed protestors and accused them of being instigated by foreign adversaries and Kurdish factions in Iraq without providing any supporting data. According to the Iranian Intelligence Ministry, police detained nine foreigners, predominantly Europeans, for their suspected involvement in last month's rallies. With at least a dozen dual nationals detained in recent years on questionable spying claims, commentators claim that Westerners and dual nationals have increasingly become pawns in Iran's internal political conflicts and in tensions between Tehran and Western capitals.
After traveling hundreds of miles and pulling a small suitcase on wheels with just a tent, some water purification tablets, and a gas stove for his 11-month journey, Sanchez finally arrived in Iraqi Kurdistan in late September. Before arriving in Qatar, the first Arab nation to host a World Cup, in time for Spain's opening game on November 23, he claimed he wanted to see how others lived.
In a statement to the Associated Press from Sulaymaniyah, a Kurdish city in northeastern Iraq, he said, "The goal of the voyage is to excite and inspire other people to show that they can go very far with very little."
Sánchez had brunch with a guide in Sulaymaniyah the day before he vanished. The tour guide, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, claimed that he made an effort to alert Sánchez of the volatile political climate in Iran.
After Amini's passing, protests in Iran's Kurdish region sparked the ongoing national unrest in that country. In retaliation, Iranian forces launched artillery and drone operations that were directed towards Kurdish insurgents in northern Iraq.
But the guide claimed that Sánchez was unfazed and confident.
He didn't appear at all anxious. "I sorted out everything, don't worry," he assured me.
The guide also stated that Sánchez had plans to see an Iranian family in Marivan, a Kurdish area that had recently seen anti-government demonstrations. After seeing Sánchez's Instagram pictures, the family volunteered to accommodate him.
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