NewsBeat
Stockport predator jailed after raping girl, 15, in tent
Mohsen Farjam, aged 43, attacked the girl, who was just 15 at the time and had a neurodevelopmental condition.
The victim was on her own in Stockport when she was approached by Farjam, who had seen that she was upset and in need of help.
But on that day in July 2018, he convinced her to “get food nearby” and charge her devices, “pretending” to offer her sympathy and support.
He then plied her with vodka at a tent in which he was living, before inappropriately touching her, Manchester Crown Court heard on Thursday, March 5.
Farjam then sexually assaulted and raped her.
The girl was able to leave the tent after, bravely telling a relative, before police were called and the rapist was arrested.
Police say that he “completely denied” the allegations put to him and showed “no remorse”.
Mohsen Farjam (Image: GMP)
On Thursday, he was jailed for nine-and-a-half years, having previously been found guilty of two counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault and one count of sexual assault by penetration.
GMP says that officers worked through tens of thousands of pages of relevant material as part of their investigation.
In addition to his sentencing, Farjam was placed on the sex offender’s register for life.
Detective Sergeant Rob Griffiths, from GMP’s Stockport Complex safeguarding team, said: “I firstly want to commend the victim in this case, who endured this horrific crime aged just 15-years-old. They have been incredibly brave throughout the court process and are getting continual support by professionals – I hope that they can continue to heal following this awful ordeal.
“Farjam exploited vulnerabilities for his own sickening gratification, and it is utterly grim that he tried to disguise his intentions by pretending to want to help a child in need. Instead, he got her drunk and exploited her as part of his vile actions.
“I am glad that he is now finally behind bars for his crimes.”
GMP gives this advice to anyone who has been, or knows someone that has been, sexually assaulted or raped:
“Saint Mary’s Sexual Assault Referral Centre, Manchester provides a comprehensive and co-ordinated response to men, women and children who live or have been sexually assaulted within Greater Manchester. They offer forensic medical examinations, practical and emotional support as well as a counselling service for all ages. Services are available on a 24-hour basis and can be accessed by calling 0161 276 6515.
“Greater Manchester Rape Crisis is a confidential information, support and counselling service run by women for women over 18 who have been raped or sexually abused at any time in their lives. Call on 0161 273 4500 or email help@manchesterrapecrisis.co.uk
“Survivors Manchester provides specialist trauma informed support to male victims in Greater Manchester who have experienced sexual abuse, rape or sexual exploitation. Call 0161 236 2182.”
NewsBeat
Is Tudor’s Spurs reign almost up after only four games?
Atletico, without being above average in those ill-fated 23 minutes, were 4-0 up, Micky van de Ven also failing to keep his footing to present Antoine Griezmann with a goal.
The final score makes the second leg of this last 16 tie a formality. Spurs only have a fight for survival now.
Tudor’s unique selling point in a chequered, nomadic coach career was supposedly his ability to provide an instant spark of impact. At Spurs, this has been The Midas Touch in reverse. The Minus Touch.
Four defeats from four games is the worst start by anyone in charge at Spurs, with each one more damaging and demoralising than the last. Tudor is not arresting the Spurs crisis, he is accelerating it.
On his own future, Tudor said: “This is not a topic for me. This is not about my job. It is about helping the team.”
As yet, Tudor has not fulfilled his part of the bargain. His days must now be measured in very small numbers.
Tudor has demonstrated he is not afraid to make the big calls. The snag is he is getting them wrong when Spurs can ill-afford it.
Opinion will be divided on his decision to substitute Kinsky after only 17 minutes, between a coach saving the keeper from himself or a hard-nosed act that might kill a young player’s career.
It was a stunning move, smacking of a coach who either feels he had nothing to lose or possibly feels he has lost it already at Spurs.
He said in a brief post-match inquisition: “It was a very rare thing. I have never done this in 15 years of coaching. I did it to preserve the guy and to preserve the team.
“It was an incredible situation.”
Of course, Tudor cannot be held responsible for what happened to Kinsky, but it was symptomatic of how things have got worse on his watch.
What is firmly at Tudor’s door was that it was his bold decision to drop Vicario and play Kinsky and to say it back-fired is a masterpiece of under-statement.
When Kinsky’s number went up, it was left to his Spurs’ team-mates and even Atletico Madrid’s fans, who pushed their passion and partisanship to one side to offer sympathetic applause, to console him.
Tudor did not appear to have consolation on his mind as the heartbroken youngster came off.
NewsBeat
UK weather: Met Office issues yellow wind warning as snow and cold return
A deepening area of low pressure between Scotland and Iceland on Wednesday is bringing strong westerly winds, gales and even touching severe gales.
The Met Office has a yellow warning in force until 12:00 GMT in western and northern Scotland for gusts to reach 65-70mph (105-110km/h) and a small chance of up to 80mph (130km/h) in some locations.
The strongest winds will initially be felt in the Outer and Inner Hebrides before spreading into northern mainland Scotland and Orkney later on.
There could be some travel disruption such as cancelled ferries, flight delays and bridge restrictions for high-sided vehicles.
While Wednesday will be a dry and bright day for most of the UK, there will be some frequent showers across Scotland.
By Thursday the strongest winds across western Scotland will have eased but it will turn windy quite widely across the UK.
Gusts of 40-50mph (65-80km/h) will be seen widely, up to 60mph (97km/h) around western coasts of England and Wales and 65mph (105km/h) in northern and western Scotland.
We then need to keep an eye on the forecast for the weekend.
Another deep area of low pressure will pass to the south of Iceland with strong winds on its southern flank across the UK.
NewsBeat
King Charles strips 9 people of MBEs and OBEs including Cumbrian man
Paul Allen Rose, founder of Barrow’s Owl Sanctuary, was stripped of his MBE this month alongside eight other people who have been lost their honours for various reasons.
Rose, of Walney, was sentenced in May 2024, after pleading guilty to two counts of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal and one count of failing to ensure animal welfare, contrary to Section 4 and Section 9 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
He was given a 20-week jail sentence suspended for two years.
A notice published on Thursday, March 5 by The Gazette says Rose had his MBE title stripped due to a criminal conviction.
A number of other individuals have had their honours removed in March 2026 including former rugby captain Stuart Hogg, who was stripped of his MBE after a domestic abuse conviction.
Here is a full list of those who have been stripped of their honours this year:
- Ian Ashbold, received MBE in 2016, stripped due to a Criminal Conviction
- Lloyd Hamilton, received MBE in 2011, stripped due to Criminal conviction
- Angela Middleton, received MBE in 2019, stripped due to bringing the honours system into disrepute.
- Nigel O’Connor, received MBE in 2015, stripped due to professional censure.
- Tony Reilly, received OBE in 2011, stripped due to professional censure.
- Paul Rose, received MBE in 2002, stripped due to Criminal conviction.
- Anant Shah, received OBE in 2020, stripped due to bringing the honours system into disrepute.
- Graham Trewhella, received MBE in 2010, stripped due to criminal conviction.
- Stuart Hogg, received MBE in 2024, stripped due to criminal conviction.
NewsBeat
GreedFall 2: The Dying World review – role-playing on the Old Continent
Nacon’s troubled prequel is finally ready for its full release on consoles and PC, as it attempts to live up to the lofty ambitions of the original game and its unusual setting.
Launching games in early access on Steam can be a double-edged sword. On the plus side, it helps nurture a community who’ll hopefully tell their friends to buy it on full release, while also giving developers a massive free play test. But on the negative side, players can get a deeply flawed first impression of a game that ordinarily wouldn’t be seen by the public for months, or even several years.
GreedFall: The Dying World (back when it was called GreedFall 2) entered early access in September 2024 and has not been getting an easy ride. The original game had more than its fair share of technical problems when it was released, and its sequel has come in for plenty of flack during its early access period, while at the same time its developer suffered a round of layoffs. Double-A games like GreedFall are rarely highly polished affairs, and now that it’s available in its final form it’s interesting to see how it fulfils what are once again quite lofty ambitions.
Like the first GreedFall, the backdrop to the sequel is a multi-polar colonial world, this time with a plague spreading across its continent. Your heroes come from the so far untouched island of Teer Fradee, their ornate dress and spiritual connection to their ecosystem reminiscent of Native Americans. The musket toting, technologically more advanced nations invading their land set up mines, carelessly annihilate swathes of wildlife, and call the indigenous people ‘savages’.
There’s a degree of historical realism about its setting, although you’ll also find huge mythical beasts and be able to use magic. Your first boss fight is against a freshly conjured nature golem that’s gone on the rampage, forcing you first to fight and then to flee. This proves to be only the first in a number of set pieces the game has to offer, as it alternates between limited open world sections and more linear exploration.
Conversations similarly vary between straightforward and consequential, your words and deeds sometimes affecting your reputation with party members and the wider community. The story propels you from place to place fairly frequently and membership of your group also changes, your standing with different teammates influencing how they support you, and whether they might be in the market for a little romance.
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There are other, more significant changes and initially the most noticeable is that while some conversations are in English, plenty are spoken in Yecht Fradí, the invented language of the aboriginal people from which your hero hails. It sounds entirely convincing, its principle downside being the need to look at subtitles for many of the conversations, which isn’t always easy when you’re navigating or trying to follow someone’s tracks.
Combat has also changed considerably, and not entirely for the better. The fact that you’re offered three different approaches to controlling fights at the beginning of the game suggests its developer, Spiders, wasn’t sure about it either. What emerges is a semi-real-time tactical fighting system, inspired by BioWare’s early work but built with a drastically lower budget.
You can opt to just control your own character, as if you’re in a Mass Effect style action role-player, letting your party do their own thing, while at the other extreme you can pause time and issue specific orders to every party member, just like Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic. While it is possible to micromanage every aspect, other than the occasional boss fight we didn’t find it made much difference except to make battles take a lot longer to finish.
Battles are riddled with rough edges, the targeting system and the way you trigger different attacks working fine but never feeling necessary enough to make it all worth it, especially since your party seem quite happy to activate their own special moves if you let them.
Compared with Dragon Age: The Veilguard or Dragon’s Dogma 2, it’s all a bit clumsy and lacking in panache. Far more impressive are the game’s contrasting and architecturally distinctive environments. From the wilderness of Teer Fradee to the various cities and villages you visit, each area has its own wholly believable look and feel, as well as a population with their own beliefs, prejudices, and traditions.
GreedFall 2 offers first rate world building and unlike Avowed – which crammed its lore down your throat in huge, indigestible lumps – The Dying World’s conversations are admirably direct, whilst conveying all they need to about the lands and peoples you visit. Voice-acting is good and the script expressive enough to communicate emotion and societal mores without wasting your time with reams of tedious, unnecessary detail.
That’s just as well, because there’s a lot of talking, some of which comes with lasting effects. Like the original game, facial animation isn’t its strongest suit, but the combination of beautifully rendered environments, believable settlements, and a coherent sense of its warring nations, makes for a game that’s more than the sum of its parts, the over-ambitious tactical combat balanced by likeably earnest characters and a decent story.
Its other great success is giving you quests that can successfully be fulfilled in a number of ways. Depending on the skills you cultivate, you can wear disguises, bribe guards, use diplomacy to persuade, stealth to pilfer key items, or good old lethal force to just wipe everyone out – the latter proving especially cathartic after a failed negotiation with an annoying side character. It feels great to have options though and to be rewarded for exploring them.
Even post launch, GreedFall: The Dying World certainly has its issues. It also has an unusually well-developed sense of purpose and place. There are way too many bland fantasy role-playing games, but this one leans into its history and the tensions of its world, without letting that get in the way of the pacing or action. Look past the lack of polish, there’s an immersive world to explore, along with a compelling sense of progression as your party toughens up.
GreedFall 2: The Dying World review summary
In Short: An atmospheric and evocative action role-player whose rough edges and lacklustre combat are balanced by compelling world-building, beautiful environments, and a far reaching sense of consequence.
Pros: Consistent progression with meaningful new skills and upgrades. Many quests can be completed in different ways. No major bugs. Believable characters and lore.
Cons: Battle system works in principle but never feels quite right. A general lack of polish and its non-linear areas are rarely particularly large or open.
Score: 7/10
Formats: PlayStation 5 (reviewed), Xbox Series X/S, and PC
Price: £49.99
Publisher: Nacon
Developer: Spiders
Release Date: 12th March 2026
Age Rating: 16
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NewsBeat
California bishop resigns amid $270,000 embezzlement charges
The bishop of a small Chaldean Catholic community in California has resigned and pleaded not guilty to embezzlement and money laundering after prosecutors said he took more than $270,000 from his parish.
Pope Leo XIV announced Bishop Emanuel Shaleta’s resignation on Tuesday. Shaleta was arrested last week at San Diego International Airport while trying to leave the country, according to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office.
Prosecutor Joel Madero said Shaleta is accused of embezzling from St. Peter Chaldean Catholic Cathedral in El Cajon, east of San Diego. But Shaleta’s defense attorney says those allegations are false.
Here’s what to know:
Bishop for more than a decade
Shaleta, 69, was born in Faysh Kahbur, a small town in Iraq near the Tigris River and the Syrian border, according to a biography on the St. Paul Assyrian Chaldean Catholic Church website. He entered seminary at age 15, training for the priesthood at St. John Minor Seminary near Mosul and Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome. He was ordained by Pope John Paul II in 1984.
After receiving his doctorate in biblical theology, he was transferred to the United States, serving in Illinois, Michigan and California until 2015 when Pope Francis appointed him the bishop of the Eparchy of Mar Addai of Toronto of the Chaldeans in Canada.
Francis appointed him the Bishop of Saint Peter Apostle of San Diego of the Chaldeans in 2017.
Allegations involve rental payments
Madero, the prosecutor, said the embezzlement allegations are connected to monthly rental payments of more than $30,000 from a tenant of the church’s social hall, and that there were discrepancies in the church’s financial accounts.
A court document with details of the allegations has been sealed. But the San Diego District Attorney’s office says Shaleta has been charged with 16 felonies, including eight counts of embezzlement and eight counts of money laundering.
Shaleta has pleaded not guilty.
During a recent Mass, Shaleta said he has never “abused any penny of the church money.”
Shaleta faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted on all charges, the district attorney’s office said. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 27.
The Chaldean Church released a formal statement, saying that the Vatican was investigating the matter and that “all perspectives are being taken seriously and require careful review, proper documentation, and time so that the truth may be fully and fairly discerned.”
The priests of the Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of St. Peter the Apostle released a statement in solidarity with Shaleta and asked for prayers for the church.
Chaldeans are important Christian church in the Middle East
There are several branches of the Catholic Church that recognize the pope. That means they may have their own customs and rules, but they agree on the same church teachings. It also means the pope may appoint branch leaders and approve resignations.
The largest branch is commonly known as the Roman Catholic Church, and it is sometimes also called the Latin or Western Catholic church. There are also 23 Eastern branches of the church, including the Chaldean branch, that are in communion with the pope.
The Chaldean Catholic Church represents more than a million Aramaic-speaking Christians. The church traces its founding to the Apostle Thomas in the region that is now Iraq. Today, the headquarters — or Patriarchate — of the Chaldean church remains in Baghdad, Iraq.
The Chaldean Community Foundation estimates that the Chaldean and Assyrian branches together have roughly half a million members in the U.S., primarily in Arizona, California and Illinois.
Case comes during time of turmoil
for the branch
The Vatican said in its daily bulletin Tuesday that Pope Leo XIV had accepted Shaleta’s resignation under the code of canon law for Eastern Rite churches, which allows for the pope to agree if a bishop asks to step down.
Leo actually accepted Shaleta’s resignation in February, but appears to have waited to announce the decision to avoid interfering with the police investigation. Leo named Bishop Saad Hanna Sirop as a temporary administrator.
The head of the Chaldean church, Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, retired on March 9, and Leo announced the retirement at the same time as Shaleta’s resignation.
It’s not clear if the two departures are connected.
Sako, 76, said that he first discussed retiring with Pope Francis in 2024, but Francis encouraged him to remain. Sako said he asked Leo to retire again on Tuesday and Leo agreed.
Sako said he freely offered his resignation and was leaving “of my own will” to pursue prayer, writing and simple service. He had occasionally clashed with Iraq’s political leaders, and his retirement comes as the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran has spilled into Iraq and other neighboring countries.
Before retiring, Sako wrote a letter to parishioners in the San Diego region, urging them to seek unity and “a compassionate, faithful heart, far from the spirit of revenge” during an “exceptionally painful situation.”
“Let the legal procedures take their course in revealing the truth and upholding justice,” Sako wrote. ____ Associated Press journalists Gregory Bull, Christopher Weber, Deepa Bharath, Nicole Winfield and Kathy McCormack contributed.
NewsBeat
Harris and Fuller head to runoff in Georgia special election to replace Marjorie Taylor Greene
Democrat Shawn Harris and Republican Clay Fuller are headed for an April 7 runoff to fill Marjorie Taylor Greene’s former U.S. House seat in Georgia, after neither candidate secured a majority in Tuesday’s special election.
Fuller, a district attorney, received an endorsement from President Donald Trump in February.
He described Trump’s backing as “rocket fuel” for his campaign. However, this support was not enough to clinch an outright victory in a crowded field of 14 candidates, which included nine Republicans, three Democrats, a Libertarian and an independent. The election saw all candidates compete together, with the top two advancing.
Harris, a cattle farmer and retired brigadier general, faces a significant challenge in the heavily Republican district. Despite this, Democrats are expected to highlight his strong showing as another success in recent special elections. Harris has campaigned on a platform of moderation and addressing local issues, drawing a clear contrast with Greene’s more confrontational approach.

The winner will serve out the remaining months of Greene’s term. A Republican win in northwest Georgia’s 14th Congressional district would bolster the party’s majority in the House. The district stretches from suburban Atlanta to the Tennessee state line.
Fuller was a White House fellow in the first Trump administration and is a lieutenant colonel in the Georgia Air National Guard. He finished fourth in the 2020 Republican primary that Greene won before becoming a district attorney. Fuller had set an outright win as his goal for Tuesday’s vote.
This round of voting is only the first step in an elections marathon in the Georgia district. Republicans and Democrats seeking a full two-year term are set for a May 19 party primary, and possibly a June 16 party runoff, before advancing to the general election in November.
Last week, 10 Republicans and Harris qualified to run in November’s election for a full two-year term. That includes Fuller, as well as Colton Moore, a former state senator and favorite of far-right activists who drew attention for a vociferous attack on Trump’s prosecution in Georgia for alleged election interference.
For some, support for Trump hasn’t wavered. Presley Stover of Dallas, Georgia, voted for Fuller. She said she doesn’t agree with the president on everything, but supports him on the whole.
“I think as of right now, he’s doing a great job,” she said. “He’s definitely helping us a lot more than Biden did. I mean, as of now, they’re not the best, but you’re not gonna change anything overnight.”
Some Republicans, though, were unaffected by Trump’s nod.
“God, no. That’s not going to sway me one way or the other,” said Brendon O’Laughlin of Dallas, noting he voted for Brian Stover, a Republican from his area. O’Laughlin said he was looking for a change in style from Greene.
Those who backed Democrats said they were repelled by Trump and eager to reduce his power.
“There just needs to be checks and balances and I don’t think we have many of those right now,” said Matthew Wisniewski, a Dallas resident who voted for Harris.
But voters on a whole in the district embraced Greene’s hard-right campaign in 2020, when she parachuted into the district after aborting a campaign in a more closely contested district closer to Atlanta.
Greene was one of the most well-known members of Congress until she left in January. She remained loyal to Trump after he lost to Democrat Joe Biden, promoting Trump’s falsehoods about a stolen election. When Trump ran again in 2024, she toured the country with him and spoke at his rallies while wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat.
But Greene began clashing with Trump last year after he and other Republicans pushed back against her running for U.S. Senate or governor. Greene criticized Trump’s foreign policy and his reluctance to release documents involving the Jeffrey Epstein case. The president eventually had enough, saying he would support a primary challenge against her. Greene announced a week later that she would resign.
Returning another Republican to Congress would bolster the party’s narrow majority in the House. Republicans currently control 218 House seats to Democrats’ 214.
NewsBeat
Jaguar stolen from Selby leading to high-speed police chase
North Yorkshire Police shared a video of the chase which was from Craven to Otley and said they had located the suspected stolen vehicle just over an hour after it was reported missing.
Officers from the Roads Policing Group attempted to intercept the vehicle at about 9.20am, and then set off in pursuit.
A spokesman said the pursuit “reached speeds of more than 100mph along the A65 from Skipton to Otley, travelling via Ilkley.”
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Several specialist units were sent to the area to help intercept the vehicle along with colleagues from West Yorkshire Police.
The driver, a 17-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of aggravated vehicle taking, burglary, failing to stop for police, criminal damage, driving without a licence, driving without insurance, and resisting arrest.
He currently remains in police custody.
The spokesperson added: “Thankfully, no members of the public were injured. We appreciate the public’s patience and cooperation while Bridge Street in Otley was temporarily blocked.
“To those who believe they can act in this way without consequence: you are mistaken, there are no borders for us. We will use every specialist resource available to identify you, stop you, and bring you into custody.”
NewsBeat
UK theatre ‘under growing pressure’ from rising production costs, report says
It outlined policy changes that could help the sector’s financial sustainability, such as reforming business rates for theatres, extending theatre tax relief to support touring productions, introducing stronger incentives for donations, and ensuring public funding settlements keep pace with inflation.
NewsBeat
Champions League: Newcastle’s sense of missed opportunity after late Barca blow
Yet there is a reason this Newcastle side have not kept a clean sheet since January.
Although Raphinha was 35 yards from goal in the final seconds of the game, substitute Joe Willock did not get close enough to the former Leeds United forward.
The Brazilian had the second he needed to look up and play a pass to Dani Olmo which, somehow, took a handful of flagging Newcastle players out of the game.
Olmo jinked inside the box and a panicked Malick Thiaw stuck out a leg, leaving referee Guida with no other choice as he pointed to the spot.
St James’ Park was stunned into silence for the first time all night.
“It was a great advert for us as football club on and off the pitch, but I’m just devastated for everybody that we couldn’t get the win that we all deserved,” Howe said.
“That’s football for you. It never plays to romance. It does what it does and now we have to dust ourselves down, take the positives from the performance and try and hit that on a more consistent basis.”
Newcastle felt a similar gut wrench on home soil after conceding stoppage-time winners against Liverpool and Arsenal earlier this season, and a late equaliser at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur.
Yet it was rather telling that those supporters who stayed behind on Tuesday night applauded their players off the field as they attempted to lift them.
This tie is far from over, even if it is going to take a herculean effort from Newcastle at the Nou Camp next week.
Howe felt in the “cold light of day” his side would see such positives after they showed they can compete with the very best.
Barnes was staying similarly upbeat.
“It will be a different sort of game at their place but we know what we can do and we know when we are at our level how well we can play,” he added.
“What a feeling it would have been to go there 1-0 up but we are level in the tie and all to play for.”
NewsBeat
Australia grants visas to more members of Iranian women’s football team | World News
Two more members of the Iranian women’s football team have been granted asylum in Australia, taking the total to seven, amid fears for their safety after they were criticised for not singing their national anthem.
They were in Australia for the Asian Cup when the Iran war began just over a week ago.
The two women, a player and the other a member of staff, have been reunited with five players who were granted humanitarian visas a day earlier.
But Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told reporters that, after making security assessments, not everyone who applied for a visa was granted one.
“There is a reason why some people were not made a direct offer [to stay]. There were some people leaving Australia who I am glad are no longer in Australia,” he said without offering a further explanation.
The rest of the team departed from Sydney late Tuesday local time to return to Iran.
Speaking after five people originally applied for visas, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: “Australians have been moved by the plight of these brave women. They are safe here and they should feel at home here.”
The Australian government had been under pressure to protect the women after they were knocked out of the tournament.
The players were reportedly criticised on Iranian TV, with a commentator saying they had committed the “pinnacle of dishonour” for staying silent during the anthem before their match on 2 March – two days after the US and Israel began attacking Iran.
“Traitors during wartime must be dealt with more severely,” presenter Mohammad Reza Shahbazi said, according to Reuters news agency.
Some believed the team’s silence was an act of resistance, while others saw it as a show of mourning following the initial US-Israel attacks on their country.
The team has not made any specific comment on their stance.
They sang and saluted ahead of defeats to Australia on Thursday and the Philippines on Sunday, but there were concerns they had been ordered to do so.
The team failed to get past the group stage and players’ union FIFPRO said it was “really concerned” about their welfare and had been unable to contact them.
Dozens of people chanted “let them go” and “save our girls” as the team’s bus left the stadium on the Gold Coast after Sunday’s match.
Supporters said they could see at least three players making the international hand signal for help, according to CNN.
Before the rest of the squad left the country, some Iranian Australians held a protest at the team’s hotel and at the airport, seeking to prevent the women from leaving the country, citing fears for their safety in Iran.
Mr Trump posted on Truth Social about how some players felt they had to return “because they are worried about the safety of their families, including threats to those family members if they don’t return”.
‘Ongoing threat’
Exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi, who lives in the US, said he had been told that Fatemeh Pasandideh, Zahra Ghanbari, Zahra Sarbali, Atefeh Ramazanzadeh and Mona Hamoudi were now in a “safe location”.
He earlier said the team faced an “ongoing threat” after their “brave act” not to sing the anthem.
“As a result of their brave act of civil disobedience in refusing to sing the current regime’s national anthem, they face dire consequences should they return to Iran,” he posted on social media.
The Australian Iranian Council had also urged the government to protect the players.
It launched an online petition asking authorities to “ensure that no member of Iran’s women’s national football team is to depart Australia while credible fears for their safety remain”.
Mr Burke told reporters that the seven Iranians are now on humanitarian visas, “and the processing will soon start for them to move to what’s called a resolution of status, which is a permanent visa”.
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