We’ll offer asylum to Iran’s women’s soccer team if… — Trump

United States President, Donald Trump, has revealed that the US would offer asylum to the Iranian women’s soccer team if Australia failed to protect the players, citing concerns for their safety if they return home.

The team has faced pressure after some players were singled out by Tehran for not singing the national anthem during a Women’s Asian Cup match on the Gold Coast.

“Australia is making a terrible humanitarian mistake by allowing the Iranian Women’s National Soccer team to be forced back to Iran, where they will most likely be killed,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social on Monday. “Don’t do it, Mr Prime Minister, give ASYLUM. The U.S. will take them if you won’t.”

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Reports said an Iranian state TV presenter labelled the players as traitors after they stayed silent during the anthem in an earlier match. They later sang and saluted the anthem in subsequent games.

The team’s campaign ended Sunday with a 2-0 defeat to the Philippines. It is unclear if plans have been made for their return to Iran, as the players had arrived in Australia just days before the conflict began.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong declined to comment on whether Canberra had contacted the players directly.

“I don’t want to get into commentary about the Iranian women’s team. Obviously, this is a regime that we know has brutally cracked down on its people,” Wong said in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corp.