Iran has sent a chilling message to the world as members of the women’s football team walked across a large American and Israeli flag in a ‘hero’s welcome’ parade overnight.
Footage captured by Iranian state media shows the team arriving into Iran, with floral wreaths placed around their necks by waiting crowds, as members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps stand beside them.
The returning squad, which includes the five women who rejected their Australian asylum bid, could be seen wrapping their arms around young girls carrying Iranian flags as dozens of Iranian officials watch nearby.
In a post on X, speaker of the Iranian parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said the players and support staff were ‘children of the homeland, and the people of Iran embrace them’.
‘Our daughters, despite all the malice of the enemies of this country, have not become disillusioned with themselves; they have not surrendered to the temptations and intimidation of the Iran-haters, and they will return with pride to their eternal home, Iran,’ a translation of his post read.
It comes as an Iranian state media agency affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards aired an interview with midfielder Mohaddeseh Zolfi, who abandoned her asylum bid at the eleventh hour last week.
Ms Zolfi, who was pictured without a head covering while standing next to Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke just last week, told Tasnim News her family had not been pressured by the regime.
‘The claim of pressure on families is not true. We feel a sense of security and happiness,’ a translation of Ms Zolfi’s comments read.
Members of Iran’s womens football team returned home to a hero’s welcome as members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps stood beside them
Mohaddeseh Zolfi, who is believed to be the first of the players to reject their asylum bid, told Iranian State TV her family had not been pressured by the regime
Ms Zolfi (right) and the team’s ‘support person’, Zahra Soltan Meshkeh Karand, were the last of the squad to choose to stay in Australia (pictured with Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke)
‘In the past month, we have reached the conclusion that nowhere becomes a person’s home and homeland. Our girls are not traitors to the homeland and are considered the assets of this country.’
Fears for the team’s safety emerged earlier this month when the players refused to sing the national anthem ahead of their opening Asia Cup match, leading to them being branded as ‘wartime traitors’ on Iranian television.
After their Asia Cup campaign wrapped up, five of the players, including captain Zahra Ghanbari, slipped away from the team’s minders to claim asylum in Australia.
Ms Zolfi and the squad’s ‘support person’, Zahra Soltan Meshkeh Karand, were the last of the group of seven to claim asylum.
However it’s believed Ms Zolfi soon changed her mind after speaking to some of the teammates who had already left.
Ms Karand and four players later reversed their decision and joined the team during their long journey back to Iran after reportedly facing threats and intimidation.
Shiva Amini, a former Iranian national futsal player who now lives in exile, said she had heard information that Iran’s Football Federation, working with the Revolutionary Guards, ‘placed intense and systematic pressure on the players’ families in Iran’.
Amini, who left Iran following a hijab controversy, claimed this ‘shows the level of cruelty and desperation they are willing to use to force these athletes to comply’.
The players refused to sing the national anthem ahead of a match at the Asia Cup earlier this month, leading to them being branded as ‘wartime traitors’ on Iranian television
Iranian footballer Fatemeh Pasandideh training with Brisbane Roar earlier this week
Lawyer Kambiz Razmara, vice-president of the Australian Iranian Society of Victoria, told Daily Mail there was no doubt the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ‘would have got to them’ despite the women being held in a safe house.
‘The pressure on the family back home, perhaps via the players who have already left, the usual routine by this regime to intimidate, frighten and coerce into action anyone who defies it,’ he said.
‘And it’s not just threats on their families. It’s also the social stigma for them back in Iran. Only 11 per cent of the country is pro-Ayatollah, but they have status and they would be using propaganda such as the US bombing of the school to try and turn people around.’
The two remaining players – Fatemeh Pasandideh and Atefeh Ramezanisadeh – were spotted on Tuesday training with A-League club, Brisbane Roar, at the club’s training ground in Brisbane’s north.
In photos posted to Instagram, the two women could be seen sporting wide smiles as they trained without the mandatory neck to ankle uniforms and head coverings that are enforced by the Islamic Republic.
Ms Ramezanisadeh, 33, commented on the post: ‘Thank you for everything.’
Mr Razmara claimed there would be ‘enormous pressure’ for the remaining players to return home.
‘That kind of feeling, the dread, is just awful. It’s akin to waiting to know whether cancer is going to kill you,’ he said.
Mr Razmara said the women, if they stayed, would be subject ‘to the pressure of watching things unfold from afar’.
‘It can be that the IRGC can go and arrest family members, or make businesses suffer or just harass someone as they walk down the street,’ he said.
‘We understand it will be difficult for them. We are in solidarity with them.’
More to come.
