Iranian women's football team speak to media for the first time since arriving home, say Australian police pre

Members of the Iranian national women's football team have spoken to media in the country, with one saying how she felt Australian police were pressuring them to stay. Speaking on Iranian TV, midfielder Fatemah Shaban said that police were "asking a bunch of very strange questions" in the hopes that they would reverse their decision to return to their families in the wartorn nation. ”

When they checked our passports, each of us went into a room with a police officer. At first, when they took my hand and led me away, I was a bit scared, but I told myself, 'it's okay'."

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The security agent called someone on a phone, and I realised they wanted to ask us again: 'If you go back, it's like this [dangerous]... your country is at war." "

They were asking a bunch of very strange questions, hoping I might say, 'No, I don't know. I am not sure of returning'." "

They kept asking those same kinds of questions." "

He then asked me, 'Do you want to call your family? You can contact them right now to decide if you want to stay or not'." "

As soon as he said that, I told [the translator], 'Tell him I don't want to stay, anyone who wanted to stay has already stayed'." "I didn't even let him finish reading the rest of his questions; I just said, 'I want to return to Iran'." ”

Right then, I got a bad feeling in my heart; I was a bit scared because I really wanted to go back to Iran—I wanted to go to my family, my homeland." In a separate video, another member of the football team is the team bus and said in a translated video that she "wouldn't trade a strand of hair of my mother & father for the entire continent of America and Australia.”

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: NT braces for Tropical Cyclone Narelle as Far North Queensland starts recovery The statements come as members of Iran's national women's soccer team were greeted with a welcome ceremony upon their return to the Islamic Republic after several of the players sought asylum in Australia. Shaban said she is happy to be back in Iran, saying the nation is her homeland. People in the crowd waved flags while some of the players held bouquets and signed what appeared to be mini-soccer balls.

Two Iranian female players, Fatemeh Pasandideh and Atefeh Ramezanisadeh, chose to remain in Australia and have been training with the Brisbane Roar club. Others who initially sought asylum after the team was knocked out of the Women's Asian Cup later changed their minds and said they would return to Iran.

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