The Asian Cup hosted in Australia should be a celebration of women in sport, but the events of the last few days has significantly shifted the mood for one of the Matildas' upcoming group opponents.
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The Matildas are set to take on Iran in their second Asian Cup group match on Thursday at the Gold Coast, following Sunday's opening clash 1-0 victory against the Philippines in Perth.
The Iranian women's team held a press conference less than a day after US-Israeli strikes were launched on their nation, but comments on the conflict were awkwardly shut down.
In a similar statement released by FIFA and other sporting bodies, the Asian Football Confederation said it would "closely monitor" the Middle East situation "during a challenging period", and was committed to supporting the Iran women's team.
"The AFC's foremost priority remains the welfare, safety and security of all players, coaches, officials and fans," the statement read.
"In this regard, we are in close and regular contact with the IR Iran women's national team and officials in Gold Coast, and are offering our full support and assistance.
"The AFC will continue to assess the situation carefully in the best interests of all concerned, guided at all times by the well-being of the players and the spirit of unity that defines the AFC Women's Asian Cup."
Earlier on Sunday a question regarding the killing of Iran leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was shut down as the women's national football team coach and captain said they had enjoyed a "good preparation" for the Asian Cup in Australia.
US-Israeli strikes killed Khamenei, who has served as Iran's leader since 1989.
Tehran has launched counter attacks on a number of countries, with the Middle East region on high alert.
Iran's national team will open their Asian Cup campaign on Monday against South Korea on the Gold Coast, before they meet the Matildas and the Philippines later in the group stage.
Only three questions were taken in Iran's pre-match press conference with coach Marziyeh Jafari and captain Zahra Ghanbari, with a journalist broaching the topic of Khamenei's death.
The question was first asked in Farsi, then in English, with the journalist asking: "I would love to know your feeling at this moment regarding the killing of Ali Khamenei before your match with South Korea and during this tournament."
Jafari answered in Farsi before an AFC media representative, who did not translate her response, interjected with, "OK I think that's all for your question. Thank you for asking. Let's just focus on the game itself".
The team has had to prepare for the tournament amid a wave of anti-government protests in Tehran, which have been met with violent crackdowns.
But both coach and captain played down any concerns over their preparation.
"In Iran, we had players that were playing in the league and they were prepared by the league competitions," Jafari said through a translator.
"After that we joined together at two or three training camps and then we came to Australia.
"Here we had two or three full training sessions and I hope that tomorrow we can show you a very nice match."
Ghanbari added, also through a translator: "We had a very good situation in Iran, preparing our team.
"We come here with good preparation. For tomorrow's match we do our best concentration to show a very good match and a good result."
It is world No.68 Iran's second appearance at the Asian Cup, which doubles as qualifying for the Women's World Cup.
"It's the second time I have participated at this great tournament," Ghanbari said.
"I do believe that this tournament is so great and really great teams are participating here, very experienced teams are participating at this competition.
"We really want to qualify for the World Cup and we know that Korea, Australia and the Philippines are tough games here."
Earlier on Sunday, Matildas goalkeeper Jada Whyman was ruled out of the tournament completely, due to a knee injury.
Morgan Aquino from DC Power was named as Whyman's replacement.
Sam Kerr leads the Matildas as captain in her fifth Asian Cup campaign, and after the clash against Iran, the team head to Sydney to face Korea Republic in their final group stage encounter next Sunday.
- with AAP
