Iranian women’s soccer team: Two more accept asylum in Australia after airport move, Tony Burke confirms

The Iranian footballers who sought asylum in Australia had to be rushed from their safe house after one of the group decided she wanted to return home and revealed their location.

The latest twist in the high stakes drama came after another two women on Tuesday night decided they wanted to seek asylum, player Mohaddeseh Zolfi and Zahra Soltan Meshkeh Kar, a member of the team’s support staff.

One of these two changed their mind on Wednesday morning after speaking with teammates who had left the country. The Government wouldn’t reveal which player changed their mind.

“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 … My officials made sure that this was her decision, and every question you would want asked was asked,” Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told Parliament.

“Unfortunately, in making that decision, she had been advised by her teammates and coach to contact the Iranian embassy and to get collected.”

That meant the Iranian embassy knew the safe house’s location and the other six had to be quickly moved.

The team was branded “wartime traitors” by Iranian state media after they stayed silent during the national anthem ahead of their first Women’s Asian Cup game more than a week ago, sparking fears for their safety and that of their family.

Five players – captain Zahra Ghanbari, Fatemeh Pasandideh, Zahra Sarbali Alishah, Atefeh Ramezanizadeh, and Mona Hamoudi – sought asylum late on Monday night after dramatic scenes at their Gold Coast hotel.

On Wednesday morning, Mr Burke detailed the efforts he, Home Affairs, police and ASIO officials went to to ensure that every member of the Iranian team and most of their support crew had the opportunity to stay in Australia.

That included facilitating them speaking with family members in Iran.

He flew to Brisbane on Tuesday for the third time in as many days to again meet with Zolfi and Kar, and then on to Sydney to see the rest of the group.

“In Sydney, as the full delegation went through customs and immigration … all the players remaining and most of the support people were taken into interview rooms without any minders present, simply themselves and the Department of Home Affairs and an interpreter, and they were given a choice in that situation,” he said.

“What we made sure of was there was no rushing, there was no pressure. Everything was about ensuring the dignity for those individuals to make a choice.”

But not everyone was given the offer to stay, including some in the team set-up who had been involved in coercing or confining the players. “I am glad they’re no longer in Australia,” Mr Burke said.

While fears had been raised that some of the “minders” were members of, or had close links to, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is now a listed terrorist organisation in Australia, Mr Burke said all had been examined by security agencies before they arrived in Australia.

“People who are connected to the IRGC were not granted visas,” he said.

Ultimately, no others decided to stay after the Sydney interviews, but Mr Burke said he was satisfied they had each made a personal choice without any coercion.

One woman did stall getting on the plane leaving Australia as Home Affairs officials sought to connect her with family in Iran, but she ultimately decided to depart.

The team flew to Malaysia and are expected to return to Iran via Turkey.

An outpouring of community support for the players who stayed in Australia has manifested in a Go Fund Me raising more than $37,000 in a day, an offer from the Brisbane Roar FC “to open our doors and offer you a place to train, play, and belong” and mining magnate Clive Palmer relaunching his political ambitions by offering each of the young women a $10,000 donation.

Iran’s Football Federation president Mehdi Taj accused Australian authorities of “taking our girls hostage” and cited the Donald Trump’s tweets demanding Australia help the players, despite the US President’s intervention coming after that help had already been given.

“After the game, unfortunately, the Australian police came and intervened, removing one or two of the players from the hotel, according to the news we have,” Mr Taj said on Iranian state television.

“They are taking our girls hostage ... They did a terrible thing.”

Political opponents and refugee advocates accused Mr Burke of hypocrisy for personally facilitating the discussions with the soccer team while pushing new legislation through parliament to restrict the ability of other Iranians to seek asylum.

Under the new laws, which are expected to pass on Thursday, the more than 7200 Iranians who already hold temporary visas to Australia to arrive as tourists, students or visiting family can be barred from entering the country for six months while the department assesses the likelihood of them seeking to stay permanently.

Mr Burke argued that “deliberate decisions that these are people who we want to help” when granting humanitarian visas were different to offering temporary visas.

“At the moment, a tourism decision has been made, and the global context has changed, and we want the power to make sure that we can still make deliberate decisions as a government,” he said.

The Greens said this reasoning was “morally bankrupt”.

“On the same day that Labor gave that one chance to a handful of brave Iranian women footballers, they shut the door to 7200 other Iranians who had already been granted visas, who had the security clearances. That is a level of hypocrisy that is hard to stomach,” the minor party’s Home Affairs spokesman David Shoebridge said.