Australian police helped two more members of the Iranian women’s soccer delegation slip their minders to claim asylum, but one has changed her mind and decided to go back to Iran, the Australian interior minister said yesterday.
Australian Minister of Home Affairs Tony Burke announced in the Australian parliament the squad member’s decision to return home, after five players from the team were granted asylum a day earlier.
A player and a support staff member on Tuesday evening accepted the Australian government’s open offer of aid.
Photo: the Australian Department of Home Affairs via AFP
“One of the two who had made the decision to stay last night had spoken to some of the teammates who had left, and had changed her mind,” Burke said. “In Australia, people are able to change their mind, people are able to travel, and so, we respect the context in which she has made that decision.”
It was not immediately clear who had decided to return to Iran.
The rest of the players have been moved to a safe location after the member contacted the Iranian embassy, giving away their location, Burke said.
Concerns about the players’ safety grew after Iranian state television labeled the team “wartime traitors” for refusing to sing the national anthem during an AFC Women’s Asian Cup match in Australia earlier this month.
The two additional members of the delegation — 21-year-old striker Mohaddeseh Zolfi and support staffer Zahra Soltan Moshkehkar — were removed from the rest of the team with the aid of Australian Federal Police before they boarded a domestic flight to Sydney.
Before leaving the country, Australian officials separated the remaining team from their Iranian minders at Sydney airport and informed them of their options before they flew out of Australia. All those that made it to the airport elected to return to Iran.
“What we made sure of was that there was no rushing, there was no pressure. Everything was about ensuring the dignity for those individuals to make a choice,” Burke said during a media briefing in Canberra.
Burke said some players had asked him about the possibility of aiding their family members leave Iran.
“Obviously, when people are permanent residents, there are rights that they have in terms of sponsoring other family members, but all of it only becomes relevant if people can get out of Iran in the first place,” he said.
Some discussed their options with family, but declined the offer to remain in Australia. The team has since reached Kuala Lumpur on their way to Iran.
The Iranian team’s campaign in the tournament started just as the US and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran, killing the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. They were eliminated from the tournament on Sunday.
A group of Iranians living in Australia gathered to protest against the Iranian government and surrounded the players’ bus in Gold Coast when they left the hotel for the airport.
Many also on Tuesday evening turned up at Sydney airport while they were being transferred to the international terminal, television footage showed.
The office of Iran’s general prosecutor on Tuesday said the remaining members of the team were invited back to the country “with peace and confidence,” Iranian media reported.
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