Donald Trump says Iran are welcome to participate at World Cup but warns it isn't safe

[p][b]"The [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/iran/xrRx85iA/"]‌Iran[/a] National Soccer Team ⁠is ‌welcome to The World Cup, ​but I really don’t believe it is ​appropriate that they be there, for their own ⁠life ​and safety,"[/b] Trump said in a post on Truth Social.[/p][p]Iran's sports minister said ‌on Wednesday that Iran cannot participate in the World Cup after the U.S. launched airstrikes alongside Israel against Tehran. The attacks triggered a ​region-wide conflict that has shown no signs of abating.[/p][p]The 48-team World Cup will be held ​in the U.S., Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19, with Iran scheduled for matches in ⁠Los Angeles and ​Seattle.[/p][p]An official withdrawal by Iran from the showpiece event, which has not yet happened, would be a first in the modern era and would leave soccer's global governing ‌body FIFA with the urgent task of finding a replacement team.[/p][embed guid="4cc9386c-78a0-49f3-a36d-a1ba9f8f7f13" url="https://x.com/NewsAlgebraIND/status/2032005501924622756" social-type="twitter" /][p]Iran was the only nation missing from a FIFA planning summit for World Cup participants held last week in Atlanta.[/p][p]FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Late last year it awarded Trump - who has campaigned aggressively for the Nobel Peace Prize - its own inaugural peace prize.[/p][p]Earlier this week, ‌Australia granted humanitarian visas to five Iranian women soccer ​players after they sought asylum, fearing persecution on ‌their return home for their refusal to sing the national anthem at an Asia Cup match.[/p][p]Trump had urged Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to grant asylum to members of the Iranian women's team, saying ⁠the US would ⁠if Australia did not.[/p]