The Iranian women’s national soccer team stayed silent during their country’s national anthem on Monday night ahead of their first match of the Women’s Asian Cup against South Korea.
Before kickoff of their group match against South Korea, who went on to win 3-0 on the Gold Coast Stadium in Queensland, Australia, the Iranian players stayed tightlipped, looking straight ahead as their country’s anthem rang out through the stadium.
Their silence got here amid coordinated U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran that killed the country’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and other high-ranking officials on Saturday.
Iran countered by targeting U.S. military bases and other diplomatic strongholds dotted throughout the Middle East incuding in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
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Although most of those attacks have been intercepted by air defences, at the least five deaths were reported as of Monday, including three people within the UAE and one each in Kuwait and Bahrain.
Iran’s head coach, Marziyeh Jafari, and her players didn’t comment on their silence, the war or the death of Khamenei.
Iranian players react from the bench throughout the Women’s Asia Cup soccer match between Iran and South Korea on the Gold Coast, Australia, Monday, March 2, 2026.
Dave Hunt/AAPImage via AP
The team touched down in Australia several days before the continuing strikes began and is ready to play host nation Australia on Thursday, before their final group stage match against the Philippines on Sunday.
Players from other nations have commended the Iranian women’s team for its courage.
“Our heart goes out to them and their families, it’s a difficult situation and it’s really brave of them to have the ability to be here and to perform,” Australia midfielder Amy Sayer told The Guardian.
“They placed on a very strong performance, even with the political climate that’s happening and the struggles that they may be going through,” she continued.
“One of the best we will do to contribute is to only give them one of the best game of football [on Thursday] that we’re able and to point out them the respect on the sector. Hopefully the situation improves and so they can keep staying secure in Australia,” Sayer concluded.
The conflict escalated further this week, with Israel sending latest ground troops into Lebanon and explosions ringing out in Tehran. A whole bunch of individuals have been killed, the overwhelming majority in Iran.
The spiralling nature of the war raised questions on when and the way it will end.
Trump said it could last 4 to 5 weeks, but that the U.S. was prepared to go longer. He looked as if it would leave open the chance for more extensive U.S. military involvement, telling the Recent York Post on Monday that he was not ruling out the chance of shoes on the bottom.
— With files from the Associated Press
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