Three more Iranian soccer team members return home, with fears of group infiltration

The number of Iranian women’s soccer players seeking asylum in Australia is rapidly diminishing, raising alarm about the hardline Tehran regime’s efforts to convince the players to return home, including the possible use of infiltrators.

Three more of the seven members of the delegation who sought asylum changed their minds and decided to return to Iran on Saturday night, and Iranian-Australian community leaders fear more reversals could follow.

They followed one player who changed her mind earlier last week and decided to return to Iran.

The Iranian regime leapt upon the news as a propaganda victory, declaring it a failure for US President Donald Trump, who called for the women to be allowed to remain in Australia.

The developments came as a blow to the Iranian diaspora in Australia, which campaigned for the women to be offered the chance to remain in the country.

“Overnight, three members of the Iranian Women’s Football Team made the decision to join the rest of the team on their journey back to Iran,” Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said in a statement on Sunday morning.

“After telling Australian officials they had made this decision the players were given repeated chances to talk about their options.

“While the Australian government can ensure that opportunities are provided and communicated, we cannot remove the context in which the players are making these incredibly difficult decisions.”

The Tasnim News Agency, an outlet with close links to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said the players had joined their teammates in Malaysia before returning to Iran.

The outlet said the players had “rejected Australia’s seductive and political offer of asylum”, branding it a “patriotic decision”.

The outlet earlier called the players’ decision to leave Australia a “disgraceful failure of the American-Australian project and another failure for Trump”.

“The national spirit and patriotism of the Iranian women’s national football team girls defeated the enemy’s plans against this team,” the news agency said.

Tina Kordrostami, an Iranian-Australian community leader, said she feared the regime would use threats to convince the remaining players in Australia to return to Iran.

“I am not too hopeful. I have real concerns,” she said.

Kordrostami said she and other diaspora activists believed technical staffer Zahra Soltan Meshkehkar – one of the three women who left the country on Saturday night – played an important role in convincing the players to change their minds.

Kordrostami said she believed Meshkehkar was a regime infiltrator, although this claim has not been verified.

“She is a mother figure – they look up to her,” she said.

Sara Rafiee, a human rights activist who campaigned for the players to be given the right to stay in Australia, said she held similar fears.

“While the full circumstances remain unclear, many within the community are concerned that significant pressure may have been exerted on the players, potentially including pressure conveyed through an individual described as ‘support staff’ who reportedly sought asylum in Australia,” she said.

“Some community members fear that this person may have been used by the regime to influence the players from within the group and pressure them to return.”

While this has not been confirmed, she said the concerns had been “widely expressed” with the Iranian-Australian community.

A government source, speaking on condition of anonymity said, said all members of the delegation who received asylum were “thoroughly vetted” and it had not been established that Meshkehkar was an infiltrator.

Burke said every possible effort had been made to ensure the women were provided the chance to seek a new life in Australia.

Five team members separated from the team and sought asylum last Monday, and were later joined by two additional members of the delegation – one player and one member of the support staff.

Iranian player Mohaddeseh Zolfi, 21, contacted Iranian officials on Wednesday morning and asked to be collected from a safe house soon after Burke announced she had sought asylum in Australia.

The Iranian-Australian community feared at the time that the regime in Iran would redouble its efforts to convince the remaining women to return to Iran to achieve a propaganda victory over Australia.

“They are clearly being threatened. I am worried for the rest of them,” Kordrostami said at the time. “The regime is clearly escalating matters at its end.”

A member of the Iranian soccer team told protesters in Malaysia they weren’t scared about going home and that officials have promised them rewards when they return.

In the video, translated by members of the diaspora, the player said they were promised “rewards” or “benefits” by officials and told that they would be welcomed and “treated well” upon their return, like “princesses” or queens.

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