Australia will temporarily ban Iranians from entering the country on tourist visas, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said on Wednesday, stating that temporary visitors from Iran may "be unable or unlikely to leave Australia when their visas expire," CNN reports.

The ban will take effect on Thursday and last for six months. Some Iranians will still be able to travel to Australia, including those holding long-term visas, as well as those with children or spouses in the country.

"The government is acting in the national interest amid rapidly changing global conditions," Burke said.

According to Burke, approximately 7,000 Iranians hold visitor visas to enter Australia.

Earlier this month, Australia granted political asylum to seven members of the Iranian women's football team, though only five of them subsequently changed their minds and withdrew their refugee claims.

Senator David Shoebridge, the Australian Greens' immigration spokesperson, described Wednesday's decision as "a cruel and unjust decision designed to ensure that none of them — Iranians — can apply for protection onshore, as the members of the Iranian women's football team did."

"The overwhelming majority of people seeking asylum from authoritarian countries do so by obtaining a visa and then applying for asylum upon arrival," Shoebridge said. "Iranians are issued a vanishingly small number of offshore humanitarian visas because that would unambiguously mark them as a target for the Iranian government."