Shayma Qasim won the country’s beauty pageant on Saturday but received a phone call afterward when the threat was issued. She said that, regardless of her fears over the phone call, she was determined to “continue forward despite any obstacles,” the Israeli news website reported, citing the Kuwaiti daily Al-Watan.

The 20-year-old beauty queen is from the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, claimed by the country’s Kurds as their historic capital. After winning the contest, she will represent Iraq in the Miss Universe contest in Thailand in March next year.