JAKARTA - Another Iranian Women's National Team (Timnas) player who received a refugee visa to live in Australia has left the country.
The Australian government confirmed on Monday, March 16, 2026, local time, that the departure of the player shortly before midnight on Sunday, March 15, 2026, left only two of the seven members of the original squad who received asylum in Australia.
Iranian authorities welcomed the change of attitude of the women's footballers as a victory against Australia and US President Donald Trump. On the other hand, the Iranian diaspora in Australia blamed the pressure from Tehran.
Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke reported on Sunday that two players and a team support staff member had left Sydney for Malaysia on Saturday, March 14, 2026.
As is known, the Iranian Women's National Team arrived in Australia for the 2026 Women's Asian Cup last month, before the war in the Middle East began on February 28, 2026.
Initially, six players and a support staff member from the squad list of 26 players received humanitarian visas to stay in Australia before the rest of the Iranian contingent flew from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur on March 10, 2026.
One person later changed his mind and left Australia. The rest of the team has remained in Kuala Lumpur since they left Australia.
Assistant Minister for Immigration Australia, Matt Thistlethwaite, described the difficulties of the women's footballers in Australia as a very complex situation.
"We've worked very, very closely with them, but obviously this is a very complex situation. It's a very personal decision."
"The government (Australia) respects the decision of those who have chosen to return. We continue to offer support to the two remaining people."
"They have been given all the support from the Australian Government and even the diaspora community to stay here and settle in Australia," Thistlethwaite told Sky News television.
Iran's Tasnim news agency said after the three left Australia on Saturday that they returned to the warm embrace of their families and homeland.
Concerns about the team's safety in Iran rose when the players did not sing the national anthem before their first match.
The Australian government has been urged to help the women by Iranian groups in Australia and by Trump.
Iran's state news agency described the return of the women's footballers to the team as a humiliating failure of the American-Australian project and another failure for Trump.
Meanwhile, some members of the Iranian diaspora in Australia accused support staff who had initially received asylum and then left Australia on Saturday of spreading Iranian government propaganda to their teammates via text messages.
Thistlethwaite said there was no evidence to support the theory that staff had persuaded others to leave. All those who stayed in Australia after the team left were genuine asylum seekers.
Thistlethwaite said the women who had remained in the asylum had been taken to an undisclosed safe place after they decided to stay in Australia.
"They can communicate with their families and others. I understand that some of them have contacted the Iranian embassy in Australia. We can't cut off their communication," said Thistlethwaite.
The vice president of the Australian-Iranian Society, Kambiz Razmara, said the women who received asylum were under pressure from the Tehran regime.
"They have to make decisions spontaneously with very limited information and they have to react to the circumstances.
"I was surprised they decided to leave, but actually I'm not surprised because I understand the pressure they are under," Razmara said.
The Iranian embassy in the capital Canberra remains operational despite the Australian government having expelled the ambassador last year.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese severed diplomatic ties with Iran in August 2025 after announcing intelligence officials had concluded the Revolutionary Guards had directed arson attacks on a kosher food company in Sydney and the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne in 2024.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
