Iran women’s soccer team saga deepens; mines placed in Strait of Hormuz; Penny Wong says Australia not involved in conflict

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What you need to know

By Emily Kaine and Angus Delaney

Thank you for reading our live coverage of the US-Israeli war on Iran and its impacts throughout the world.

Here’s a look at today’s biggest stories.

One member of the Iranian women’s soccer team who accepted a humanitarian visa to stay in Australia has changed her mind and sought to return to Iran, said Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke. That means a total of six Iranians have accepted the government’s offer to remain in Australia.

While waiting to board a flight leaving Australia last night, several players interviewed by this masthead – flanked by chaperones – said they wanted to return home to be with their families.

Israel’s attacks on Lebanon are causing a widening humanitarian crisis. Almost 700,000 people have been displaced since the latest Israeli incursion across Lebanon’s southern border.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said today would be “yet again [America’s] most intense day of strikes inside Iran”.

The US military has published a video that it says depicts minelaying boats being destroyed near the Strait of Hormuz. US Central Command said 16 minelayers had been eliminated, among other Iranian vessels. The critical oil choke point has remained largely closed as Iran threatens to attack any passing ships, causing the price of oil to swing wildly.

The Australian dollar has emerged as an unlikely haven, buoyed by elevated oil and gas prices and growing bets that the central bank may raise interest rates as early as next week. The Aussie climbed to its highest level since June 2022 – US71.68¢ – and reached more than a 35-year high against the yen, making it the top-performing major currency this year.

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7.35pm

Republic senator apologises for strike on Iranian school

By Angus Delaney

A Republican senator has apologised for the US’s apparent bombing of a girl’s school in Iran which killed 175 people.

Video released by Iran’s semi-official Mehr News Agency and verified by The New York Times appears to show a Tomahawk cruise missile striking a naval base beside a girls’ school in Minab. Mass funerals were held for the victims, mostly children, last week.

“The investigation [into the strike] may prove me wrong. The kids are still dead,” Senator John Kennedy told CNN. “I think it was a horrible, horrible mistake. I wish it hadn’t happened. I’m sorry it happened.

“I can assure you it wasn’t an intention. That’s the sort of thing Russia does. We don’t do that. But, you know, I don’t see any other possible explanation.”

US President Donald Trump yesterday walked back his definitive claim from three days ago that Iran was responsible for a deadly strike on an Iranian girls’ school that killed as many as 175 people.

Trump acknowledged the matter was still being investigated but again implied Iran could have been at fault – even as new footage showed a US-made Tomahawk missile hit a nearby naval base at the same time.

7.13pm

‘This is terrifying’: Locals distraught at missile strike

By David Crowe

We’re seeing the anguish among the residents of Beirut who have woken to the sound of missile strikes next door. One woman is shaking as she stops briefly to talk in Arabic about how she feels.

Her lips tremble and she rubs her eyes, and then holds her hands up towards the damaged apartment building in disbelief. She lives on the other side of the target building – luckily, not the side hit by the airstrike.

Her daughter is staying with her and her son has returned to Beirut, and she worries about them both. Our local colleague here tells me what she is saying, but I don’t need a translation to understand the message: “This is terrifying.”

We are in the Aisha Bakkar district of Beirut, close to the sea. It is a Sunni Muslim area and not part of the southern district of Beirut from which Israeli forces have told people to evacuate.

As with a drone strike on Sunday, this attack is bringing the war to a suburb where people thought they might be safe.

7.08pm

Crews work to remove unexploded missile from Beirut strike site

By David Crowe

Beirut: We’re at the site of the latest Israeli missile strike in Beirut, where the street is littered with broken concrete and at least 20 cars are damaged outside an apartment building struck in the night.

One of the greatest fears this morning was that an unexploded missile lay in the rubble. At the same time, a crowd of more than 100 people gathered in the street – some of them media, but many of them local people.

Lebanese authorities tried to secure the site to keep people away from the danger, with mixed success.

The unexploded missile has been loaded onto a white SUV — a Dodge RAM — and the vehicle has moved slowly down the street. An electricity crew are up a telegraph pole, trying to secure the power to minimise the risks.

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6.47pm

Iranian drones strike near Dubai airport

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Two Iranian drones have struck near Dubai International Airport and wounded four people, though flights continue, officials say.

The Dubai Media Office, which issues statements on behalf of the city-state’s government, said the attack caused “minor injuries to two Ghanaian nationals and one Bangladeshi national, and moderate injuries to one Indian national”.

The airport, home to the Emirates airline, is the world’s busiest for international travel. Authorities have been trying to build up its flight schedule, though the airport has been targeted in the war.

AP

6.43pm

Third ship attacked in strait

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Another ship came under attack on Wednesday in the Persian Gulf, the British military said.

A bulk carrier was hit by a projectile off a distance from the United Arab Emirates, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said.

“There is no report of any environmental impact,” the centre said. “The crew are reported safe and well.”

It was the third attack reported today.

AP

6.26pm

Speculation grows over supreme leader’s health

By Angus Delaney

Speculation over the health of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, has grown after the son of Iran’s president mentioned hearing news about him being injured.

Iranian state media have referred to Khamenei as injured in war during their reports about his ascension to leader. Khamenei, 56, is the son of slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

He has not made any public statements or appearances since being elected leader by a council of clerics.

In an overnight post on Telegram, the son of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, said: “I heard news about Mr. Mojtaba being injured. I asked friends who were in contact. They said, thank God, he is healthy and there is no problem.”

The New York Times reported, citing anonymous officials, that Khamenei was injured in the opening attack by Israel and the US but also had remained unseen due to concerns any communication could reveal his location and put him in danger.

With AP

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6.10pm

Fears Iran will milk return of soccer player for propaganda

By Matthew Knott, Brittany Busch and Kate Aubusson

Members of the Iranian diaspora fear the Tehran regime could increase its pressure on the soccer players who accepted asylum in Australia after one of the women decided to return to Iran in a shock reversal that set off a security scare.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke revealed one of the two women from the Iranian soccer delegation who were granted an emergency humanitarian visa on Wednesday had abruptly changed her mind and would return to Iran.

The other six women who defected had to be whisked away to another secure location after 21-year-old player Mohaddeseh Zolfi contacted Iranian officials on Wednesday morning and asked to be collected.

Iranian-Australian community leaders believe the Tehran regime will use the about-face as a propaganda victory and pressure the other women to follow suit after portraying the defectors as being kidnapped, rather than protected, by Australia.

“They are clearly being threatened. I am worried for the rest of them,” Tina Kordostami, a leader in Sydney’s Iranian-Australian community who travelled to the Gold Coast to help the women escape, said. “The regime is clearly escalating matters at its end.”

Sara Rafiee, a human rights activist, said: “This shows the amount of pressure they are under. I’m concerned for the other girls.”

The head of the Iranian Football Federation, Mehdi Taj, went on state TV to accuse Australia of coercing the players into staying, a charge the federal government has vigorously denied.

The Iranian government has claimed the women would be welcomed back to Iran and did not need to fear punishment, accusing Australia of “frightening the members of the Iranian women’s football team and pressuring them to seek political asylum in Australia”.

Read the full story here.

6.00pm

Iranian soccer team will fly home when airspace reopens: report

By Angus Delaney

The Iranian women’s soccer team will fly home from Kuala Lumpur when airspace over Iran reopens, an official told Mayalsia’s Bernama news agency.

The team is currently in a hotel in Kuala Lumpur after arriving in Malaysia early this morning.

“They want to return home,” the Iranian embassy in Kuala Lumpur told Bernama.

The team arrived in Malaysia after flying from Sydney, where protesters tried to convince them to stay, over fears they would face retribution from the regime in Iran for not singing the national anthem in their first match in Australia.

Seven Iranians remained in Australia on humanitarian visas, though Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke revealed today that one of the women had abruptly changed her mind and would return to Iran.

5.36pm

Listen: How the Iranian women’s soccer team escape unfolded

By Samantha Selinger-Morris and Amber Schultz

Five female Iranian soccer players, in Australia competing for the Asian Cup, escaped in the night from their handlers to seek refuge from their home country, which is at war with the US and Israel.

Initially, another two women decided to join them and defected a day later, but on Wednesday afternoon, one of the pair changed her mind and contacted Iranian officials with the intention of returning home.

Today, in a bonus episode, crime and justice reporter Amber Schultz joins The Morning Edition host Samantha Selinger-Morris from Malaysia, where she has been tracking the rest of the team on their journey back to Iran.

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