Tony Burke with members of the Iranian women's football team. (Supplied: Department of Home Affairs)

By political reporter Holly Tregenza and chief digital political correspondent Clare Armstrong

ABC News Australia

As the Iranian women's team jogged off the field of the Gold Coast's Robina Stadium on Sunday night, Australian officials were waiting for them.

Their purpose was to signal in the strongest possible terms that if any of the young women wanted to talk, there were people standing by to help.

Establishing contact with the players was the first of several hurdles that had to be overcome for Australia to pull off the events that followed in the next 24 hours.

Discussions with players began in earnest in the early hours yesterday when it became clear five members of the team wanted asylum.

When the women slipped away from their minders last night, Australian Federal Police and Queensland Police were there to escort them.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke met the group about 9pm to sign their applications for temporary humanitarian visas, ending an agonising period for the athletes, who had been in the spotlight since they were labelled "traitors" on Iranian state TV for not singing the national anthem before a game.

By 1:30am today, the paperwork had been processed. In the early hours, in a secure location in Brisbane, the five footballers broke into a spontaneous cry of "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!" as they watched Mr Burke sign the documents.

Iran war live updates: For the latest news on the Middle East crisis read our blog.

Until this point, the government had been tight-lipped about its attempt to offer the athletes asylum, even as US President Donald Trump rubbished Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on social media for failing to protect them.

But Mr Burke said the government's silence had been part of a delicate operation to enable the players to safely express a desire to stay in Australia.

"These women are great athletes, great people, and they are going to very much feel at home in Australia," he said.

"Australia has taken the Iranian women's soccer team into our hearts."
Opposition leader Angus Taylor said the Coalition supported the decision, crediting the women for showing "enormous courage".

"Every reasonable Australian would want a good outcome for their safety and for their future," he said.

How did we get here?

Iranian women's national football team players Fatemeh Pasandideh, Zahra Ghanbari, Zahra Sarbali, Atefeh Ramazanzadeh and Mona Hamoudi were among a group of players who did not sing the national anthem before their opening match with South Korea at the Women's Asian Cup on March 2.

But days later, before their match against Australia, players sang the anthem with their hands either raised in a salute or across their hearts.

The next day, footage emerged of radical conservative television presenter Mohammad Reza Shahbazi calling out the players and calling for "traitors" to be dealt with "more harshly" in times of war.

There are concerns for the safety of Iran's female footballers after they were condemned on Iranian state TV as wartime traitors for not singing the national anthem before their first game.

"This is no longer some symbolic protest or demonstration. In wartime conditions, going there and refusing to sing the national anthem is the height of shamelessness and betrayal," he said.

"The disgrace of this shameless betrayal should remain on their shoulders, and they must be properly dealt with so that others take a warning from it."

Under the Islamic Republic's penal code, corruption or treason can lead to lengthy prison sentences or the death penalty.

That same week, members of the team appeared to give the SOS hand signal to protesters gathered outside the Gold Coast hotel where the team had been staying >>>