'Direct targets of persecution': Iranian athletes were in the crosshairs long before women's team's defiant anthem act

As the conflict in the Middle East casts a shadow over the Asian Cup tournament, all eyes will be on Thursday's Women's Asian Cup game between Australia and Iran on the Gold Coast.

Most observers will attempt to glean some insight into the thoughts and feelings of a nation and its citizens through the actions of the nation's women's football team.

Many witnessed the team stay silent during the country's national anthem at their Asian Cup game against South Korea on Monday night.

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Footage showed several members of the Iranian squad staring ahead, not singing, as the anthem played.

Long before the scenes on Monday night, footballers and athletes have been in the crosshairs of Iranian authorities for supporting protestors.

Earlier this year, a group of prominent Iranians with links to football called on FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, to condemn the killing and arrest of footballers and the threats made against players in the country.

The letter accused authorities of "systematic repression, mass killings, and actions that constitute clear instances of crimes against humanity and war crimes".

It also stated that "a significant number of members of the football community" were among the thousands killed in the protests that rocked the establishment.

It named among them Mojtaba Tarshiz, a former top-division player, who had two young children.

Other victims listed included Saba Rashtian, a women's football assistant referee, the youth coach Mehdi Lavasani, the footballers Amirhossein Mohammadzadeh and Ribin Moradi, as well as Mohammad Hajipour, a goalkeeper for Iran's beach soccer team.

The deaths of prominent athletes are often given widespread attention in state-run media.

The women's team squad arrived in Australia just days before US-Israeli strikes killed Iran supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

It's been reported the team is overseen by those close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

It's understood that players were forced to sign agreements assuring they would not speak out against the regime, and not apply for asylum in Australia.

"They have threatened them with their careers being ended and also jail time," Iran International sports journalist Raha Pourbakhsh told The Sports Ambassador podcast.

"Their phones have been tapped, they forced the players into signing hefty bail agreements assuring the authorities they would not become refugees in Australia."

Another prominent voice of the protestors is former Bayern Munich and Iran star Ali Karimi.

In 2022, he accused the authorities of trying to kidnap him and claimed his family had been threatened after he publicly supported anti-government protests.

A year later, his family home was briefly seized, forcing him to move to the US.

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Karimi said Iranians had paid "heavy prices, such as their lives and their freedom" for basic rights.

According to reports at least 22 athletes from other sports, including basketball, rock climbing, wrestling and taekwondo, have been killed for taking part in the protests.

That included two-time World Classic Bodybuilding champion, Massoud Zatparvar, who died during protests in north-western Iran.

"We only want our rights, the voice that has been stifled for 40 years must be shouted out," he wrote in his last Instagram post.

The account has since been deleted.