Gold Coast: Australia has granted asylum to five members of the Iranian women’s football team who were visiting the country for a tournament when the Iran war erupted, officials confirmed Tuesday.

The decision followed intense advocacy by Iranian community groups in Australia and calls from US President Donald Trump urging the Australian government to protect the players. The team had drawn attention in Australia after they did not sing the Iranian national anthem before their opening match.

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Early Tuesday, police escorted the five women from their Gold Coast hotel to “a safe location,” where they met with Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke to finalise their humanitarian visas. Burke shared photos on social media showing the women smiling and clapping as he signed the documents. “I don't want to begin to imagine how difficult that decision is for each of the individual women, but certainly last night it was joy, it was relief,” he said. “People were very excited about embarking on a life in Australia.”

The women granted asylum consented to have their names and photos published and emphasised that they were “not political activists,” Burke noted.

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Iranian state TV condemned Trump’s involvement as “direct political interference in football,” warning that such remarks could affect the 2026 World Cup. Meanwhile, Naghmeh Danai, a migration agent and Iranian-Australian community member, visited the women Monday night to reassure them. “I told them that if you accept this offer, you will have a great future here. You will have more respect. You won’t be under a lot of suppression that you have been in your country. And they were thrilled,” Danai said, adding that it was understandably a “very hard decision for them to make when they have family back home and when they just came here to compete.”

The Iranian team arrived in Australia last month for the Women’s Asian Cup, just before the war broke out on February 28. Knocked out of the tournament over the weekend, the players faced the prospect of returning to a country under bombardment. Head coach Marziyeh Jafari said Sunday that the team “want to come back to Iran as soon as we can.” Burke confirmed that asylum offers had been extended to all 26 players and staff.

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“These women are tremendously popular in Australia, but we realise they are in a terribly difficult situation with the decisions that they’re making,” Burke said. He added that opportunities would remain for other team members to speak with Australian officials if they wished.

Outside the team’s hotel, a small crowd protested Tuesday afternoon, kneeling and lying in front of a bus believed to be transporting remaining players. Some chanted “Save our girls” while others wore red, white, and green or carried pre-Revolution Iranian flags. The bus was delayed only briefly.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese welcomed the asylum decision, saying, “They're safe here and they should feel at home here.” He added that Australian authorities had made their support for the athletes “clear.”

Trump had earlier called on Australia to protect the players, warning that they “will most likely be killed” if returned to Iran. In a later post, he praised the Australian response, noting, “He’s on it! Five have already been taken care of, and the rest are on their way.”

Iranian officials dismissed Trump’s comments. First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref said, “Iran welcomes its children with open arms and the government guarantees their security,” adding, “No one has the right to interfere in the family affairs of the Iranian nation and play the role of a nanny who is kinder than a mother.”