Migration agent shares details of secret operation to get Iranian football asylum seekers alone

After the increasing urgency over the fate of Iran's women's football team in the past few days, the breakthrough came last night.

At the team's Gold Coast hotel, the five players, who have since been granted humanitarian visas, managed to go back to their rooms alone — away from the team's constant security presence.

And it was then they were taken to a private room so they could speak to migration agent Naghmeh Danai, who informed them about their options for asylum.

She says they were scared they would be persecuted after Iranian state TV condemned them for not singing the national anthem before their first Women's Asian Cup match.

"They were under a lot of stress. They didn't know what to do, they were worried about their family, their assets in Iran, what is the best decision to make now: 'What if we stay here and we lose all our assets in Iran?'" Ms Danai told ABC News.

"They wanted to stay, but they were worried about the consequences because, you know, how the government of Iran … can confiscate everything.

The players' families have reportedly been threatened with punishment if they don't return.

"From my observation, they are young and innocent. They couldn't even imagine the depth of what could happen to them if they went back," she said.

Ms Danai says the regime had also tried to "brainwash" them into going back, "so we were trying to remove all the false information that they have been given by these [Iranian] government officials".

"They were even scared of the [Australian] policemen here, because of how [police] are like Iran. We [Iranians] don't feel safe around the police," she said.

"And we were telling them, look, this is the other way around here. In Australia, police is for your safety and security. It's not like in Iran that police is there to take you away."

'Powerful, humanitarian' act for the Iranians

Ms Danai has been working as a migration agent in Australia since 2008.

"I have never experienced something so powerful, something so humanitarian for the Iranians from the Department of Home Affairs in Australia," she said.

"I have seen things they have done for Ukrainians, for Afghans, for Hong Kong and other countries, but I had never seen anything so powerful for the Iranians.

"And I'm so happy. It gives me so much hope that people of Iran, with their unity, have achieved so much.

Ms Danai says that, once the women said they wanted to stay, Home Affairs staff swiftly moved in to start their visa applications.

"They (the athletes) said: 'We have been trying all our life and we don't have any respect or any hope in Iran. Of course, we would love to stay here.'

"They couldn't believe that the government of Australia would support them at this level. They were thrilled to find out that the government is going to support them with the visa, with settlement, with everything."

Campaign started before Asian Cup

The Iranian-Australian community has been working to raise awareness of the players' situation, even before their first game, when they did not sing the national anthem.

"To be honest, before the first game, when we noticed the team is coming, a few people had connections with Home Affairs and with Tony Burke's office," Iranian-Australian Farhad Soheil told ABC News.

"We were concerned that maybe an individual associated with the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] … is coming with the team.

"That was the first communication we had … and then the things escalated after the first game when the players refused to sing the regime's national anthem and we saw the video from Iranian state TV."

Mr Soheil says Australia's government and federal authorities have been "very responsive and supportive from the very beginning".

He says not only did they act fast to ensure the safety of the athletes, but they quickly followed up concerns from the Iranian diaspora that members of the IRGC may have been granted visas — despite the IRGC being listed as a terrorist organisation — and were monitoring the players during their time in Australia.

He says he has spoken to a relative of one of the players, who is overseas, to make sure that "they are aware of the process and give them correct information".

"We know they [the families of the athletes] received lots of threatening phone calls from the regime," he said.

Mr Soheil was also worried the athletes' families in Iran would be targeted.

"It can be anything, to be honest, from … taking their belongings or jail," he said.

"They're literally hostages. The regime in Iran is trying to push them to convince the players to come back."

Celebrations tempered by concern

While many members of the Iranian-Australian community have been celebrating the five players granted asylum, they are still trying to reach the others.

Some have been camped outside the team's hotel on the Gold Coast since their final game on Sunday night.

They are concerned other team members may not understand their rights to claim asylum and want to get the message to them before they leave Australia.

"We are hoping we can save the others," one of the demonstrators, Hadi Karimi, told the ABC.

"What you see on the news, outside the hotel, they don't see.

"We haven't slept for three days. When you see someone silenced, you should do something."

Assal Alamdari said she had been in close contact with the family of one of the women granted a humanitarian visa.

"This was probably the hardest decision they all had to make … all I want is for the rest of the girls to be given the opportunity to make that decision," she said.

By this afternoon, the remaining players were leaving the Gold Coast.

Ms Danai says she spoke to the Australian Federal Police about their plight, and hopes the players can still approach them before they leave the country.

"I expressed my concern about the rest of the girls and how they are isolated more from us, and we can't talk to them," she said.

"They have been under a lot of security [from Iran's alleged regime representatives travelling with them]."

"We are hoping for more [athletes to seek asylum and stay in Australia]. I hope there are more that have the courage to do it."

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