Five Iran women footballers take asylum in Australia

Iranian players fell silent as the anthem played ahead of a tournament match in Australia last week, an act seen as a symbol of defiance against the Islamic republic.

US President Donald Trump was among those urging Australia to offer the players asylum, citing grave fears for their safety if they were forced to board a plane home.

Five players, including captain Zahra Ghanbari, slipped away from the team hotel under the cover of darkness to claim sanctuary from Australian officials.

"We've been preparing for this for some time," Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.

"Australians have been moved by the plight of these brave women. They're safe here and they should feel at home here."

Albanese thanked Australian media for their "restraint", hinting that news of the asylum bid had been held back until they were safe.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the government had spent days in secret talks with the players, who were whisked to a safe house after leaving their hotel on the Gold Coast.

Pictures showed the players huddled around a table as Burke signed paperwork granting them special visas to stay in Australia on humanitarian grounds.

The players broke out into chants of "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie", Burke said, adding that the rest of the team would also be welcome to stay in the country if they wished.

Other members of the team left Australia on a flight from Sydney airport to Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday night, the Sydney Morning Herald said.

It was unclear if more players had decided to remain in Australia at the last moment, the paper said.

Supporters had gathered at Sydney Airport to greet the players after their arrival from the Gold Coast a few hours earlier, but they were unable to approach the team, local media said.

- 'Wartime traitors' -

Trump was among the first to confirm that five Iranian players were safely in the care of Australian officials, following a late-night call with Albanese.

He had hours earlier urged Australia to do the right thing, saying it would be a "terrible humanitarian mistake" if the players were forced back to Iran.

A presenter on Iranian state TV branded the players "wartime traitors" after they stood motionless during the anthem before a match against South Korea last week.

Although they sang the anthem -- an ode to the glory of the Islamic republic -- in later matches, human rights activists warned the damage was done.

"The members of the Iranian Women's National Football Team are under significant pressure and ongoing threat from the Islamic Republic," said Reza Pahlavi, the son of the late shah of Iran.

"I call on the Australian government to ensure their safety and give them any and all needed support," he said on social media.

Pahlavi has billed himself as the man to lead a democratic transition to a secular Iran as the theocratic regime fights to survive.

The US and Israel bombarded Iran with heavy missile fire on February 28, killing supreme leader Ali Khamenei with the opening salvos of a war that now threatens to engulf the Middle East.

Politicians, human rights activists and even "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling had called for Australia to offer the side protection.

Crowds gathered outside the Gold Coast stadium where the side played their last match over the weekend, banging drums and shouting "regime change for Iran".

Supporters surrounded the Iranian team bus, chanting "let them go" and "save our girls". On Monday, an AFP journalist saw members of the team speaking on phones from their hotel room balconies.