<\/p>\nListen to this article<\/span>\u00a0|\u00a0<\/span>5 mins<\/span><\/p>\n<\/button>info<\/title><path class=\"icon-main-color\" d=\"M12 0a12 12 0 1 0 0 24 12 12 0 0 0 0-24Zm-.226 3.225a2.039 2.039 0 0 1 2.155 1.924v.193a1.998 1.998 0 0 1-2.155 2.149 2.029 2.029 0 0 1-2.146-2.15 2.039 2.039 0 0 1 1.955-2.122h.193l-.002.006Zm3.227 15.525a.75.75 0 0 1-.752.75H9.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.75h.748V12h-.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.751h3a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.752v6.75h.75a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.749L15 18.75Z\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Australia \u2060has confirmed that two more members of the Iranian women\u2019s football team have received humanitarian visas, after five players were earlier \u200cgranted asylum over concerns for their safety should they return to Iran, following the team failing to sing their national anthem before a recent match.<\/p>\n<p>A player and a member of the team\u2019s support staff decided \u2060to stay \u2060in Australia after seeking asylum, Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke told reporters on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 4 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>The pair has now joined five other team members granted humanitarian visas on Tuesday, Burke told reporters.<\/p>\n<p>He said the pair sought asylum before the team departed the country late on Tuesday night, adding that all the women were taken aside individually by Australian officials and interpreters, without Iranian minders present, and offered asylum as they passed through security at Sydney airport.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey were given a choice,\u201d said Burke, who later posted images of the players on social media.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn that situation, what we made sure of was that there was no rushing, there was no pressure,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Burke also said that some people linked to the team were not offered asylum, without providing details. One member of the delegation delayed boarding the departing flight from Sydney while they contacted family members and deliberated about staying in Australia, Burke said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe weren\u2019t sure which way that person would go,\u201d he said. \u201cThat individual ultimately made their own decision.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The seven team members who had requested asylum have received temporary humanitarian visas, which is a pathway to permanent residency in Australia, Burke said.<\/p>\n<p>According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), the visas offered to the team members are valid for 12 months and are similar to those granted to applicants from Ukraine, Palestine and Afghanistan.<\/p>\n<p>The team\u2019s departure from their hotel in Australia\u2019s Gold Coast and arrival at the domestic airport in Sydney before their international departure took place amid protests, as Iranian Australians sought to prevent the women from leaving the country, citing fears for their safety in Iran.<\/p>\n<h3>\u2018Iran awaits you with open arms\u2019<\/h3>\n<p>Concerns about the players\u2019 safety emerged after Iranian state television labelled the team \u201ctraitors\u201d for refusing to sing the \u2060national anthem before their first Asia Cup match in Australia. The team later sang the anthem at other matches.<\/p>\n<p>However, the office of \u200cIran\u2019s \u200cgeneral prosecutor said on Tuesday that the remaining members of the team were invited home \u201cwith peace and confidence\u201d, Iranian media reported.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese loved ones are invited to return to their homeland with peace and confidence, and in addition to addressing the concerns of their families,\u201d the general prosecutor\u2019s office was quoted as saying by Iran\u2019s Tasnim news agency.<\/p>\n<p>Iran\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, also urged the players to \u201ccome home\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo Iran\u2019s women\u2019s football team: don\u2019t worry \u2013 Iran awaits you with open arms,\u201d Baghaei wrote on X on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>The Iranian team joined the Women\u2019s Asian Cup tournament in Australia, just as the US and \u2060Israel launched their war on Iran, killing the country\u2019s \u2060supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and many senior officials.<\/p>\n<p>At least 1,255 people have been killed in the US-Israeli war on Iran, which has entered its 12th day and has seen devastating air strikes on the capital, Tehran, and other cities, as well as key infrastructure and civilian sites.<\/p>\n<p>The high-profile offer of asylum to the football players also comes as the Australian government has moved to introduce legislation to ban people from certain countries traveling to Australia who authorities fear might overstay their visa due to the war in the Middle East.<\/p>\n<p>According to the ABC, the proposed law would allow the government to stop people from nominated countries entering Australia for up to six months, even if they already have a valid temporary visa.<\/p>\n<p>The Australian Greens party said on Tuesday that the law was \u201cclearly aimed at preventing people from Iran from seeking safety in Australia\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know who this is aimed at by Labor \u2013 it\u2019s aimed at the people of Iran, the people of Lebanon, the people of Qatar and the entire Middle East. It is clearly designed to be a Trump-like mass visa freeze,\u201d said Greens Senator David Shoebridge, referring to the governing Australian Labor Party and US President Donald Trump, who has also banned people from certain countries from entering the US.<\/p>\n<p>Kon Karapanagiotidis, chief executive of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, said the government was acting hypocritically.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAustralia and the US are sending our military to the Middle East to liberate the people of Iran and at the same time, they are legislating so they can shut the door to those same people who need our protection \u2013 and who already have a visa to travel to Australia,\u201d he said, according to the ABC.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Listen to this article\u00a0|\u00a05 mins info Australia \u2060has confirmed that two more members of the Iranian women\u2019s football team have received humanitarian visas, after five players were earlier \u200cgranted asylum over concerns for their safety should they return to Iran, following the team failing to sing their national anthem before a recent match. A player […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14616,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14615\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}