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In dramatic scenes reminiscent of the height of the Cold War, members of the Iranian women’s soccer team were dragged bodily onto a bus to prevent them claiming asylum in Australia. Members of Australia’s Iranian community unsuccessfully tried to block the bus in chaotic scenes.
An Iranian soccer player has been pulled by the wrist onto a bus by one of her teammates to fly out of Australia, while another was heard wailing as she said goodbye to a supporter.
Extraordinary footage captured by the Australian shows the player being firmly escorted by one member of her squad and being ushered from behind by another, just hours after five of her teammates were granted permission to stay in the country.
Police watched on as the woman hung her head and walked onto the bus, believed to be taking the players to be whisked home via Kuala Lumpur.
Two other players are believed to have split off from the rest of the squad to remain at the Royal Pines Resort, after a pair of suitcases were removed from the team’s bus shortly before the footballers departed around 1pm. Home Affairs minister Tony Burke’s office has not returned calls from the Australian.
The scenes are reminiscent of the Petrov Affair of 1954, when dramatic photos captured the moment Evdokia Petrov, the wife of defected KGB officer Vladimir Petrov, being dragged bodily onto a waiting plane by armed Soviet thugs. When the plane stopped to refuel in Darwin, Evdokia was freed by ASIO agents on the order of PM Robert Menzies.
The Iranian women dragged on the bus seem unlikely to be so lucky, although others of their team-mates managed to escape earlier.
On Monday night, five women – including the squad’s captain Zahra Ghanbari and teammates Fatemeh Pasandideh, Zahra Sarbali, Atefeh Ramezanizadeh, and Mona Hamoudi – escaped the hotel with the help of Australian Federal Police, and broke out into chants of “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi” when they were told they could stay. The five players granted humanitarian visas are being held in a safe house in Brisbane.
Others weren’t given a choice.
One sportswoman could be heard wailing as she said goodbye to a supporter, who was then confronted by a team official. Police were called over to intervene.
“Shame on you,” the female supporter shouted at a suspected IRGC-aligned team member. Players were ushered back upstairs.
Just as in the 1950s, regime officials were keeping a close eye for defectors.
During their stay, there were subjected to regime rule, under constant surveillance from its aligned officials and hired security […]
At least one player from the Iranian women’s soccer team gave what appeared to be an SOS hand signal from their team bus on Sunday night as protesters surrounded the vehicle, and advocates pleaded for the government to allow them to stay in Australia.
The move comes after the team were labelled wartime traitors on Iranian state television for not singing the national anthem ahead of their first Asian Cup match against South Korea over a week ago.
On Sunday evening, as the team was transported back to the hotel, at least one player appeared to signal a plea for help by tucking her thumb into her palm and folding her fingers over it in a gesture understood to be an international SOS.
To their credit, the Albanese government acted swiftly and courageously.
In Canberra, Mr Albanese said his government had been preparing for some time for the defections. “Australians have been moved by the plight of these safe women,” he said. “They are safe here and they are at home here. We are willing to provide assistance to other women in the team ... we say to them: ‘If you want our help, help is here.’”
Mr Albanese had an early morning call with Donald Trump on Tuesday regarding the asylum issue. The call came amid the US President’s declaration that the Albanese government would be making a “terrible humanitarian mistake” if it let the soccer players leave with their Iranian regime handlers […]
The women’s dilemma led to Donald Trump’s intervention on Monday night, promising the US would give the women asylum if Australia refused them, before posting on Truth Social that he had spoken to Anthony Albanese about the team and revealing: “He’s on it! Five have already been taken care of and the rest are on their way.”
The fate of the other team members remains unknown. The team members had also been threatened by the regime, before departing for Australia, of repercussions against their families if they defected.
