Another player from the Iranian women’s team who took refuge in Australia decides to return to the country

Another player from Iran’s women’s football team who had accepted a refugee visa to stay in Australia left the country this Sunday (15), the Australian government reported. With the departure, there are only two people left from the team in Australia. According to the office of the Minister of Internal Affairs, Tony Burke, the player left shortly before midnight on Monday (16). Also on Saturday (14), two other players and a member of the support team left Sydney for Malaysia. Iran’s national team arrived in Australia for the Women’s Asian Cup last month, before the war in the Middle East began on February 28. Initially, six players and one member of the support team accepted humanitarian visas to stay in Australia. The invitation was extended to the 26 team members before the rest of the Iranian team flew from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur on March 10. Another member changed her mind the next day and left Australia. The rest of the team has remained in Kuala Lumpur since leaving Australia. Concerns about athletes’ return Concerns about the athletes’ safety when they return home increased after Iranian state television called the team “traitors in times of war.” The criticism came after players refused to sing the national anthem during a women’s Asian Cup match held in Australia earlier this month. After refusing to stay in the country as refugees, Iranian authorities hailed the women’s change of heart as a victory against Australia and the US president – Trump pressured the country to offer visas to the athletes. Assistant Minister for Immigration Matt Thistlethwaite described the situation for women in Australia as “very complex”. “We have been working very closely with them, but obviously this is a very complex situation. These are deeply personal decisions, and the government respects the decisions of those who have chosen to return. And we continue to offer support to the two who remain,” Thistlethwaite told ‘Sky News’ television. Kylie Moore-Gilbert, a political scientist at Macquarie University in Sydney who spent more than two years in Iranian prisons on espionage charges, said “winning the propaganda war” overshadowed women’s well-being. “The high risk has made the Iranian regime pay attention and try to force their hand in response, in my view,” Moore-Gilbert told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. Iran’s Tasnim News Agency said the three who left on Saturday were “returning to the warm embrace of their families and their homeland.” The Iranian news agency described the women’s return as the “shameful failure of the American-Australian project and another failure for Trump.” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese cut diplomatic ties with Iran in August after intelligence officials concluded that the Revolutionary Guard directed arson attacks against a kosher food company in Sydney and the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne in 2024. Kambiz Razmara, vice-president of the Australian-Iranian Society of Victoria, said the women who accepted asylum were under pressure from the Tehran regime. “They had to make decisions in the heat of the moment with very little information and they had to react to circumstances,” Razmara said. “I’m surprised they decided to go, but I’m actually not surprised because I understand the pressures they’re under.”

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