US president Donald Trump has offered the Iranian women’s football team asylum in the US amid fears for their safety.
Mr Trump warned the players could risk death if they returned to Iran after refusing to sing their country’s national anthem.
The American leader said that he had spoken to Australia’s prime minister, Anthony Albanese, who had informed him that five of the group had been “taken care of” while the rest were being discussed.
“I just spoke to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, of Australia, concerning the Iranian National Women’s Soccer Team,” he wrote in a post on Truth Social on Monday afternoon.
“He’s on it! Five have already been taken care of, and the rest are on their way. Some, however, feel they must go back because they are worried about the safety of their families, including threats to those family members if they don’t return. In any event, the prime minister is doing a very good job having to do with this rather delicate situation.”
Australia is facing calls to protect the team, but the US president had said he would intervene if they did not. Trump launched strikes on Iran just over a week ago, killing the country’s supreme leader and plunging the region into chaos.
“Australia is making a terrible humanitarian mistake by allowing the Iran National Woman’s Soccer team to be forced back to Iran, where they will most likely be killed,” he wrote on Truth Social on Monday afternoon.
“Don’t do it, Mr. Prime Minister, give ASYLUM. The U.S. will take them if you won’t. Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP.”
Fears come after the team refused to perform the national anthem before their first game against South Korea on March 2.
While the players have since performed the anthem in two subsequent matches, the initial act of defiance remains a “pinnacle of dishonour”, according to Iran’s state television.
Crowds, composed largely of Iranians, chanted “Save our girls!” in a desperate plea to the Australian government as they held multiple flags of Imperial Iran, the official flag before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Iran’s football team lost its last group match at the Women’s Asian Cup on Sunday and was set to return home to Iran amid its most brutal crackdown against dissent, as it fights a war against the US and Israel.
Activists and community figures have warned that the players could face repercussions after Iranian state television reportedly labelled them “traitors” for not singing the national anthem – a gesture widely interpreted as a silent protest.
The Australian Iranian Council wrote to Australia’s home affairs minister, Tony Burke, urging the government to protect the squad members while they were in Australia in order to ensure their safety.
An online petition was launched, which had garnered more than 50,000 signatures before kick-off on Sunday, urging Australian authorities to “ensure that no member of Iran’s women’s national football team is to depart Australia while credible fears for their safety remain”.
They called for Australia to provide independent legal advice, support and interpreters.
Australia’s foreign minister, Penny Wong, was asked if it was safe for the women to return home in an interview with ABC.
She said, “we stand in solidarity with the men and women of Iran, particularly Iranian women and girls”, adding that the matter of possible defection or the seeking of asylum is a matter for the home affairs minister.
“Obviously, this is a regime that has brutally cracked down on its people.”
More than 7,000 people have been killed after protests broke out in Iran, with activists warning that the number could be exponentially higher.
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