Iran ‘welcome to compete’ in World Cup, says Trump

US President Donald Trump would “welcome” Iran’s participation at the upcoming World Cup in North America, despite the ongoing Middle East war, the White House said on Wednesday.

The war, triggered by US-Israeli strikes on February 28, has thrown into doubt Iran’s participation at this summer’s men’s football World Cup, jointly hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States.

The US administration was confirming an Instagram post by FIFA chief Gianni Infantino earlier in the day.

Infantino wrote that at a meeting to discuss preparations for the competition, “President Trump reiterated that the Iranian team is, of course, welcome to compete in the tournament in the United States.”

The comments marked the first time that Infantino, who in December created a FIFA Peace Prize and awarded it to Trump, has acknowledged the ongoing war in the Middle East.

Trump’s remarks to Infantino are a stark contrast to his comments last week when he told Politico: “I really don’t care” if Iran play at the World Cup.”

The US president’s change of stance came as Iranian officials suggested they might not turn up anyway after American and Israeli attacks, including the killing of supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

“Considering that this corrupt government has assassinated our leader, we do not have the conditions to attend the World Cup in anyway,” Ahmad Donyamali, the Minister of Sports and Youth, told state-run television on Tuesday.

“They have forced two wars on us in eight or nine months, and have killed and martyred several thousand of our people. Therefore, we definitely do not have the possibility to attend.”

Iran’s federation football chief on Tuesday also cast doubt on his team’s participation in the sporting extravaganza, following the defection of several women footballers from the Islamic republic during the Asian Cup in Australia last week.

“If the World Cup is like this, who in their right mind would send their national team to a place like this?” Mehdi Taj asked on Iranian state television.

While the event is spread out across three countries, Iran are scheduled to play all three group games in the United States, two in Los Angeles and one in Seattle.

Should Iran withdraw from the sport’s quadrennial showpiece, it would be the first time a country did that since France and India pulled out of the 1950 finals in Brazil.

On Tuesday, at the Women’s Asian Cup in Australia, several players from Iran’s team claimed asylum after they came under fire from state television for not singing the country’s national anthem before one match.