Trump warns Iran ladies’s soccer workforce might be killed after anthem protest and affords asylum in US
US president Donald Trump has offered the Iranian women’s football team asylum in the US amid fears for their safety.
Trump warned the players could risk death if they return to Iran after they refused to sing their country’s national anthem.
Australia is facing calls to protect the team but the US president said he would intervene if they did not. Trump launched strikes on Iran just over a week ago, killing the country’s supreme leader and plunging the region into chaos.
“Australia is making a terrible humanitarian mistake by allowing the Iran National Woman’s Soccer team to be forced back to Iran, where they will most likely be killed,” he wrote on Truth Social on Monday afternoon.
“Don’t do it, Mr. Prime Minister, give ASYLUM. The U.S. will take them if you won’t. Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP.”
The calls for concern come after the team refused to perform the national anthem before their first game against South Korea last Monday (2 March).
While the players have since performed the anthem in two subsequent matches, the initial act of defiance remains a “pinnacle of dishonour” according to Iran’s state television.
Crowds, composed largely of Iranians, chanted “Save our girls!” in a desperate plea to the Australian government as they held multiple flags of Imperial Iran, the official flag before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
More follows on this breaking news story…
