IN BRIEF
- Iran's players made global headlines when their players declined to sing the national anthem before a match.
- An Iranian state TV broadcast called the team "traitors" for declining to sing the anthem.
Concerns have been raised about the safety of Iran's women's football team after a presenter on an Iranian state TV channel labelled the players "traitors" for declining to sing the national anthem ahead of the Women's Asian Cup opener.
The broadcast comes as sources visiting a Gold Coast hotel claim the Iranian team is being watched closely and denied freedoms while visiting Australia, not allowed to go outside without chaperones.
Iran's players made global headlines on Monday when they appeared not to properly sing the anthem before their 3-0 defeat to South Korea on the Gold Coast, less than 48 hours after the United States-Israeli strike killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
This was a gesture widely interpreted as a protest against the Iranian regime, similar to actions taken by other Iranian sports teams in international tournaments.
Last night's match against the Matildas was a different story, with players pictured singing much more enthusiastically and saluting just before the 4-0 loss to Australia.
A source told SBS News they had overheard players being pressured to sing the national anthem, ahead of the South Korea game.
"They were told to at least mouth the words," they said.
Iran's national team's presence in Australia has been overshadowed by war in the country after the US and Israel started a joint military operation in the country on Saturday, after three failed rounds of negotiations aimed at stopping the country's nuclear program.
Iran has responded by attacking Israel and US bases among other targets, launching strikes at 12 other countries in the region.
Demonstrators gathered outside Gold Coast Stadium before the kick-off, raising concerns for player safety.
On Friday it emerged a presenter on Iranian state television had called for the squad to be punished for failing to sing the anthem during the match against South Korea.
In an address circulated online, TV presenter Mohammad Reza Shahbazi said: "Traitors during wartime must be dealt with more severely."
"For you to go there and not sing the national anthem — this is the pinnacle of dishonour and lack of patriotism," he said.
"Both the people and the officials should treat these individuals as wartime traitors.
"The stigma of dishonour and betrayal must remain on their foreheads, and separately they must be dealt with properly."
Tina Kordrostami, an activist and a councillor for the City of Ryde in NSW, told SBS News that the Iranian-Australian community has grave concerns about the players' safety.
"We were already concerned, and this is just bringing a lot of warrant into everything that we've been talking about," she said.
"We have seen the players themselves clearly demonstrate to us their dismissal of the regime by refusing to sing the anthem. For them to turn around only a few days after and salute to the anthem, that in itself shows that they were coerced into such action. It had nothing to do with their personal choice."
Kordostami said she is worried about what will happen to the players once they return.
"I'm also worried about their family members because we know very well that one of the tactics used by the regime is control through family," she said.
Kordostami called on football authorities and the Australian government to intervene and offer the players "safety and security within Australia" as a "form of escape".
During a press conference before the South Korea match on Sunday, Iran's head coach, Marziyeh Jafari, was asked a question about Khamenei's killing.
She, however, didn't respond to the question, saying: "I don't think we should talk about this topic now."
On Wednesday, Iranian striker Sara Didar fought back tears as she expressed hope that her country would remain "strongly alive".
"Obviously, we're concerned and sad at what has happened to Iran and our families in Iran," Didar told reporters in Farsi.
'Basically prisoners'
The football team are reportedly under strict surveillance and confined to their hotel on the Gold Coast, according to two sources who had visited the hotel and spoken to SBS News anonymously.
A source staying at the same hotel as the players has told SBS News, "they are basically prisoners", being watched closely by Iranian security, along with security assigned to them by the tournament.
SBS News cannot independently confirm these claims and has reached out to Football Australia, Iran's Football Federation, and the Women's Asian Cup for comment, but has not yet received responses.
Iranian security personnel accompanying national teams at overseas tournaments is not unusual. But amid US-Israel strikes on Iran and its retaliatory warfare across the Middle East, SBS News has heard fears from two sources that the regime may tighten control over players, as it tries to prevent any possible attempts to seek asylum abroad.
SBS News has contacted the hotel, which it is choosing not to name for the players' safety, and has also contacted Iran's embassy in Canberra for comment. They had not replied at the time of publication.
'Not permitted to leave the hotel'
The source staying at the hotel said the players are "not allowed to use the public restroom in the hotel".
"They don't eat in the restaurant. They have to eat in the conference room, they're escorted once they get into the lobby and they made sure they go to the conference room and they don't go anywhere else," the source said.
"They're monitored the whole time. They're not free to walk around the hotel and talk to the public."
They said the Iranian players were staying across two levels of the hotel, which had "very heavy security".
They witnessed other teams "can walk around freely and talk to whoever they want".
Another source, who visited the hotel, also confirmed similar observations.
"More evident than anything else was the level of the surveillance and control. None of the players was ever alone," they said.
"Every few players were accompanied by an Iranian woman, or a member of staff, or a coach.
"No players were seen without supervision. My clear impression was that they are not permitted to leave the hotel, not for food, not for use, not even for a simple walk."
In recent years, Iranian sports teams have usually been accompanied by security personnel to prevent them from leaving hotels or speaking with the media without supervision.
In Australia, there is a rare precedent for athletes seeking asylum during sporting tournaments.
In 2023, Saeed Montazer Parchi, an Iranian athlete, left the camp during the World Transplant Games in Perth and applied for asylum in Australia. In a previous interview with SBS Persian, he also mentioned the presence of security forces with the team.
He's understood to be still living in Australia.
In 2006, during the Melbourne Commonwealth Games, at least 26 athletes and officials claimed asylum in Australia, from Cameroon, Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Bangladesh.
SBS News has contacted the Department of Home Affairs for comment on the management of such asylum claims.
Earlier this week, politicians from both sides of parliament criticised memorials being held locally for Khamenei, who some Shia Muslims view as a religious figure akin to a Catholic pope.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters on Thursday, "the world wants to see a de-escalation" in the conflict.
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