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President Donald Trump offered a stark warning to the Australian government on Monday as Iran’s women’s soccer team returns home after the Women’s Asian Cup.
The team faced uncertainty when war broke out while they were in Australia for the tournament. Amid concerns for the players’ welfare, the Australian Iranian Council wrote to Australia’s Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke urging the government to protect the team members while they are in the country.
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Iran players react during their national anthem ahead of the Women’s Asian Cup soccer match between Iran and the Philippines in Robina, Australia, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (Dave Hunt/AAP photo via AP)
Trump weighed in with a post on Truth Social.
“Australia is making a terrible humanitarian mistake by allowing Iran’s women’s national football team to be forced back to Iran where they will most likely be killed,” he wrote. “Don’t do it Mr. Prime Minister, give ASYLUM. The US will take them if you don’t want to.”
Australian Assistant Foreign and Trade Minister Matt Thistlethwaite was asked if the country would grant asylum to the Iranian players, but said the government could not “go into individual circumstances for reasons of privacy.”
Five Iranian women’s soccer players reportedly defected with the help of the police.
IRANIAN FEMALE FOOTBALL FANS SHOW SUPPORT FOR TRUMP AS TEAM SEEMS TO BE ABOUT NATIONAL HOME
Iran supporters wave flags during the women’s Asian Cup soccer match between Iran and the Philippines in Robina, Australia, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (Dave Hunt/AAPImage via AP)
The team arrived in Australia before Israel and the US launched a joint offensive against Iran on 28 February. The attacks led to the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Iranian players refused to sing their national anthem before an opening loss to South Korea last Monday, seen by some as an act of defiance that one Iranian commentator called “the height of disgrace”.
The team did not clarify. But the players sang the anthem and saluted before their losses to Australia and the Philippines.
The Iranian Council of Australia launched an online petition calling on the Australian authorities to “ensure that no member of the Iran women’s national football team leaves Australia while there is still a credible fear for their safety.”
“Where credible evidence exists that visiting athletes may face persecution, imprisonment, coercion or worse upon return, silence is not a neutral position,” the petition reads. “The current wartime environment has intensified the repression, fear and risks faced by anyone publicly perceived by the Islamic Republic as disloyal.”
Iranian supporters display signs expressing support for US President Donald Trump during the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Australia 2026 soccer match between Iran and Australia in Gold Coast, Australia, on March 5, 2026. (Izhar Khan/AFP via Getty Images)
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Iran head coach Marziyeh Jafari was quoted as saying on Australia’s national news agency that the team wants “to return to Iran as soon as we can.”
