Photo courtesy of Iran National Football Team
Iranian Sports Minister Ahmad Donyamali said the national team could not compete in a tournament co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada from 11 June to 19 July.
“Considering that this corrupt regime has assassinated our leader, under no circumstances can we participate in the World Cup,” Donyamali told Iranian state television.
The announcement throws Group G, which includes Egypt, Belgium and New Zealand, into uncertainty just months before the tournament begins.
The United States and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran on 28 February, killing Khamenei and escalating tensions into a region-wide conflict in the Gulf, Iranian officials said.
“Our children are not safe and, fundamentally, such conditions for participation do not exist,” Donyamali said, adding that the country had suffered heavy casualties in recent months.
More than 1,300 Iranian civilians have been killed since the airstrikes began, according to Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani.
Iran had been drawn alongside Egypt, Belgium and New Zealand in Group G, with all three of its matches scheduled to take place in the United States — two in Los Angeles and one in Seattle.
The Asian side, which qualified comfortably from the continental qualifying rounds, was the only nation absent from a FIFA planning summit for World Cup participants held last week in Atlanta.
FIFA has not yet commented on whether another team will replace Iran if the withdrawal is confirmed.
Under FIFA regulations, teams that withdraw from the World Cup can face fines and further disciplinary sanctions, including exclusion from future competitions or replacement by another national association.
Earlier, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said he had met US President Donald Trump, who told him the Iranian team would still be welcome to compete in the United States despite the ongoing conflict.
A source in Tehran familiar with the matter said the decision not to attend the tournament had effectively been taken, while pre-World Cup warm-up matches were also impossible due to the war.
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