Sports Minister says Iran won’t play at the World Cup

A big flag of Iran waving in the wind in Tehran, Iran.

Iran will not participate in this summer’s FIFA World Cup, the country’s sports minister Ahmad Donyamali has declared, citing the United States-Israeli attacks that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the reason the country cannot travel to America for the tournament.

Donyamali made the announcement in a television interview, ruling out any possibility of the Iranian national team competing in the showpiece event scheduled across the United States, Canada, and Mexico in June and July.“Since this corrupt government assassinated our leader, we have no conditions under which we can participate in the World Cup,” he said, adding that the scale of destruction inflicted on Iran made participation inconceivable. Vanguard