The captain of the Iranian women's soccer team followed her players in leaving Australia and withdrawing asylum claims because their families are being targeted by the regime, a diaspora community group says.
Zahra Ghanbari became the fifth member of the team to change her mind after accepting an offer to stay in the country at the end of the Women's Asian Cup.
Her decision was seized on by the Iranian state news agency IRNA, which has hailed the return of all but two players from Australia as a coup for the under-siege regime.
