<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Members of the </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/iran" rel="" target="" title="Iranian"><span>Iranian</span></a><span> national women's </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/soccer/2" rel="" target="" title="football"><span>football</span></a><span> team have spoken to media in the country, with one saying how she felt Australian </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/police" rel="" target="" title="police"><span>police</span></a><span> were pressuring them to stay.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>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.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"When they checked our </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/passport" rel="" target="" title="passports"><span>passports</span></a><span>, 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'."</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/perth-news-murderer-gets-life-for-stabbing-and-burning-girlfriend/6013f3ad-06b9-4364-9e98-23fb16441db8"><strong><span>Murderer gets life for stabbing and burning girlfriend</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The security agent called someone on a </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/phones" rel="" target="" title="phone"><span>phone</span></a><span>, and I realised they wanted to ask us again: 'If you go back, it's like this [dangerous]... your country is at war."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"They were asking a bunch of very strange questions, hoping I might say, 'No, I don't know. I am not sure of returning'."</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/iranian-womens-football-players-say-australian-police-pressured-them-to-stay/9f26ab22-3567-4ec0-90aa-8cda00a5ce4d" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"They kept asking those same kinds of questions."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"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'."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"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'."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I didn't even let him finish reading the rest of his questions; I just said, 'I want to return to Iran'."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"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."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>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 &amp; father for the entire continent of </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/usa" rel="" target="" title="America"><span>America</span></a><span> and </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/" rel="" target="" title="Australia"><span>Australia</span></a><span>."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/tropical-cyclone-narelle-cape-york-peninsula-cops-heavy-rain-flooding-power-outages-northern-territory-on-alert-queensland-weather/45502514-e6ca-4110-8d4d-665a73b7995d" rel="" target="" title="NT braces for Tropical Cyclone Narelle as Far North Queensland starts recovery"><strong><span>NT braces for Tropical Cyclone Narelle as Far North Queensland starts recovery</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>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.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Shaban said she is happy to be back in Iran, saying the nation is her homeland.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>People in the crowd waved flags while some of the players held bouquets and signed what appeared to be mini-soccer balls.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Two Iranian female players, Fatemeh Pasandideh and Atefeh Ramezanisadeh, chose to remain in Australia and have been training with the Brisbane Roar club.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>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.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><em><span>- With AP</span></em></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span></span><em><strong><span>NEVER MISS A STORY:</span></strong></em><span> </span><strong><em><span>Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.</span></em></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><ul><li><em><strong><span>Download the 9NEWS App here via</span></strong></em><span> </span><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727" target="" title=""><em><strong><span>Apple</span></strong></em></a><span> </span><em><strong><span>and</span></strong></em><span> </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU&amp;pli=1" target="" title=""><em><strong><span>Google Play</span></strong></em></a></li><li><em><strong><span>Make 9News your preferred source on Google by</span></strong></em><span> </span><a href="https://9.nine.com.au/8x987w" target="" title=""><em><strong><span>ticking this box here</span></strong></em></a></li><li><em><strong><span>Sign up to</span></strong></em><span> </span><a href="https://login.nine.com.au/edm?client_id=nineatnine" target="" title=""><em><strong><span>our breaking newsletter here</span></strong></em></a></li></ul></div></div>