Tears, terse interactions as officials swoop in to escort Iranians home

Kuala Lumpur: The atmosphere grew visibly tense as the Iranian soccer players, who were less than a third of the way into their long journey home, were escorted from their plane by an Iranian official after landing in Malaysia.

The Lionesses touched down in Kuala Lumpur from Sydney just before 8am (AEDT) on Wednesday. This masthead was onboard their overnight flight and watched as they were met by Iran’s ambassador to Malaysia, Valiollah Mohammadi Nasrabadi, at the end of the plane’s walkway.

Dressed in blue robes and flanked by other officials, he signalled the end of any chance of escape.

While some of the chaperones embraced him warmly, many players sat, vacantly staring at their phones. Some women averted their eyes, shaking their heads when this masthead tried to approach. One sat absentmindedly on the same bench as this writer and was scolded for getting too close to a journalist.

While members of the team shopped and milled about before boarding in Sydney, the mood shifted once the final boarding call was made. One woman left the group to have last-minute conversations with family about whether to join the six players and one member of support staff who had been granted humanitarian visas to stay in Australia.

Once on the plane, several women began to cry and were embraced as they found their seats scattered about economy class. Others bowed their heads when asked to comment, gesturing to their chaperones. Some of the women were reprimanded for speaking with this masthead or getting too close. One shook her head when asked which team members had stayed behind.

“I cannot say. I am not allowed to speak with you,” she said, her face solemn.

The older women took their phones and scrolled.

This masthead also spoke to the women via a translation app at Sydney Airport on Tuesday night as they waited to board the flight.

Several of the women – we have chosen not to name them – repeated the same message: they wanted to go home to their families.

Asked what happened to the members of the delegation who were staying behind in Australia, one of the players simply replied: “They became refugees.”

Asked if she wanted to be a refugee and if Iran was safe, the young woman shook her head.

“Iran is home,” she said.

On Wednesday, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke confirmed that an additional two members of the Iranian football delegation had been given visas to stay. Five players in the team had already opted to remain after a dramatic intervention and closed door meetings late on Monday night and into Tuesday morning.

One woman of the two women granted asylum, he said, appeared to consider staying, with Home Affairs facilitating last-minute calls with her family.

“We weren’t sure which way that person would go. That individual, though, ultimately made their own decision [to leave],” Burke said.

“There was also, from our perspective, no pressure to have to get on the plane at all.”

However, she ultimately boarded the plane, joining her teammates, tears streaming down their faces.

Two other women said they had spoken with their families, as protesters claimed their families sent messages telling them to stay away from Iran.

When asked about Iran’s blackouts, one woman shrugged. Another started speaking, then indicated to a chaperone, who repeated the message. “They are happy to see their families.”

But some of the members’ body language told a different story. Flanked by minders across the Gold Coast, by AFP and NSW police officers at Sydney Airport, and Iranian delegates in Malaysia, the women were on edge, terse, and being surveilled.

One woman was missing, and another sat on a seat, refusing to leave Sydney.

There was a delay when the team made its way through border patrol amid the possibility that further players may have chosen to stay. An officer took a stack of passports into a side room as two of the older women passed through the gates, and the players remained behind for a lengthy period.

On arrival in Kuala Lumpur, flanked by officials, the group of nearly 30 people walked through customs, picked up their luggage, and took an elevator out of the terminal. They would next fly to Turkey, before travelling onwards to their homeland.

Those who chose to return – if they indeed had much of a choice – made a bold decision. In the face of potential detention and abuse, which could affect their family and friends, the women labelled “wartime traitors” by local media will not have an easy return.

Read more on the US-Israel-Iran war:

• Gulf states ask for help: Australia weighs sending surveillance aircraft
• Petrol: Regional servos run dry as fuel industry heads for crisis
• Opinion: Iran’s brave players have stood tall. Australia must stand with them
• On the ground in Beirut: Ahmad fled for safety. Then a drone hit the hotel next door
• World markets: Day of panic as war wipes $80 billion off Australian sharemarket
• Video evidence: US Tomahawk may have hit naval base near school

Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.