The president of Iran’s soccer federation says he does not know if the national team can play World Cup matches in the United States following the surprise US and Israeli bombardment of his country.
“What is certain is that after this attack, we cannot be expected to look forward to the World Cup with hope,” Mehdi Taj told sports portal Varzesh3 as Iran traded strikes with Israel as part of a widening war prompted by the bombardment.
The US-Israeli strikes on Iran continued for a second day on Sunday after the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threw the future of the Islamic Republic into uncertainty and raised the risk of regional instability.
Follow The Post’s live coverage of the United States’ airstrikes on Iran
Iran has been drawn in Group G at the World Cup and is scheduled to play in Los Angeles – where it faces New Zealand and Belgium on June 15 and 21, respectively – before it plays Egypt in Seattle on June 26.
The United States is hosting the tournament with Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19.
Fans from Iran were already banned from entering the US in the first iteration of the travel ban announced by the Trump administration.
Follow The Post’s coverage of the United States’ airstrikes on Iran:
- Three US service members killed, 5 seriously wounded in Operation Epic Fury
- Trump reveals US destroyed 9 ‘important’ Iranian naval ships — and is ‘going after the rest’
- The US and Israel tracked Khamenei for months — and then he gave them a massive opportunity to take him out
- Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran’s ex-president who said ‘Israel must be wiped off the map,’ killed in Israeli airstrikes
- Who will lead Iran next? After Khamenei’s death, opposition leaders jockey for power
FIFA did not immediately reply to an email from The Associated Press over the current situation regarding Iran’s participation in the World Cup.
