Trita Parsi tells Al Jazeera that Iran has abandoned strategic patience for a new doctrine: swift, severe retaliation against any US attack. Parsi added that Iran aims to deny Washington the ability to strike with impunity, viewing immediate escalation as vital to its deterrence.
Published On 10 Jun 202610 Jun 2026
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US Central Command (CENTCOM) says its forces began launching ‘self-defence’ strikes against Iran, holding Tehran responsible for downing a US Army Apache helicopter. Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher has the latest from the White House.
Published On 9 Jun 20269 Jun 2026
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The worst-case oil scenario has been avoided, but inflation and slower growth continue to weigh on the global economy.
More than 100 days into the Iran conflict, 20 percent of the world’s energy flows remain disrupted, with the scenario described as the biggest supply shock in history.
For now, the nightmare scenario has been avoided. Oil prices are still at approximately $100 a barrel.
Many analysts have warned that a prolonged disruption to the Strait of Hormuz could send oil above $200 a barrel, triggering a global economic crisis.
Various countries have released their strategic reserves, exporters have found alternative routes and weaker demand has helped contain prices. But the buffers are thinning.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) warns the economic impact could linger well into 2027, even if the conflict ends tomorrow.
Published On 9 Jun 20269 Jun 2026
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United States President Donald Trump has warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he might find himself fighting on his own if Israel returns to war with Iran.
The warning on Monday came as Israel and Iran said they would pause attacks following their most serious escalation since a ceasefire took effect in April.
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Trump, who has reportedly grown increasingly exasperated with Netanyahu, demanded that both sides stop “shooting” in a post on his Truth Social platform and said that “final negotiations” towards peace would proceed “subject to ignorance or stupidity getting in its way”.
He also called Netanyahu and told him to stop the strikes, according to media reports.
In an interview with Axios, Trump said he had warned Netanyahu about the consequences of continuing the war.
“I said, ‘Bibi, you better be careful, or you will be on your own very soon’,” Trump said.
The flare-up began on Sunday, triggered by Israel’s deadly bombardment of Lebanon’s capital, Beirut. Iran – which has long said any peace deal with the US depends in part on an end to the fighting in Lebanon – responded with a wave of missiles at northern Israel.
Trump reportedly called Netanyahu on Sunday evening and asked him not to retaliate, but Israel launched attacks on Iran early on Monday.
Israeli forces struck Iranian air defence systems and a petrochemical plant, while Iran retaliated by hitting a similar facility in Haifa and targeting two Israeli airbases. Many of the missiles were intercepted over the occupied West Bank.
No deaths were reported on either side.
The exchanges complicated Trump’s push to end a war that the US and Israel launched on February 28. A ceasefire announced on April 8 paused all-out warfare. But flare-ups in the Gulf have continued.
For his part, Netanyahu said in a televised statement that he had told Trump that “Israel has a full right to self-defence, and we are exercising it as required”.
“Right now, the fire at the front is contained, because after we hit the terrorist regime in Tehran, it stopped attacking us,” he said.
Netanyahu also warned that should Iran “make the mistake of resuming attacks against us, we will respond with full force”.
Israel’s ambassador to Washington, Yechiel Leiter, downplayed reports of tension between the US and Israeli leaders, telling Fox News that “sometimes, lovers have a spat”.
He said that while Netanyahu had “decided” to “lower the temperature” at Trump’s request, the US president understands “full well” that Israel cannot “absorb ballistic missiles into our country without responding.”
Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, blamed Washington for the escalation.
“The US is directly responsible,” he said. “They are party to the ceasefire negotiations. Therefore, any act in violation of the ceasefire, be it through the interception of vessels [in the Strait of Hormuz], the targeting of southern Lebanon by Israel, or any other event, will cause the United States to be directly responsible for the escalation in the region.”
Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref said the operation against Israel, dubbed “Nasr” or victory, showcased “a new level of deterrence from mighty Iran” and that Israel had been “forced to beg once again” for a ceasefire.
Behind the scenes, diplomatic efforts continue.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian posted on X that Tehran was still “at the negotiating table”, while Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, said that Washington and Tehran, through Pakistan as an intermediary, are “presenting and exchanging views” towards an agreement.
Iravani told The Associated Press news agency he was hopeful that “very soon” the two sides would reach “a conclusion”.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said efforts for a peaceful diplomatic solution was ongoing “earnestly and painstakingly” and called for restraint, “especially when the final objective is just about to be achieved”.
He also said Israel and Iran’s exchange of fire was a “reminder of the dangers associated with a tenuous ceasefire and the unbearable consequences it may lead to”.
The escalation on Monday also drew in Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
The group fired missiles at Israel early in the morning and declared a complete ban on Israeli maritime navigation in the Red Sea, warning that all Israeli movements would be considered “legitimate military targets”.
Later on Monday, air raid sirens sounded in the Israeli port city of Eilat, with the military saying a suspected aerial target was launched from Yemen.
Violence has also continued in southern Lebanon.
An Israeli strike killed five people in the city of Tyre, while another, in the Nabatieh district, left seven dead. A third strike in Marwanieh killed two people, the Lebanese Ministry of Health said.
Phyllis Bennis, a fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, said Trump was trying to give an impression that he was tougher on Israel than he actually is.
“The words could be significant if they were matched by actions,” she told Al Jazeera.
“As long as they’re sending billions of dollars directly to the Israeli military, and as long as they’re protecting Israel from being held accountable in the International Court of Justice or the International Criminal Court, as long as those actions don’t change, the words just don’t mean very much,” she added.
Residents in Tel Aviv voiced mixed reactions after Israel and Iran said they would halt strikes following a day of missile exchanges. While some wanted a stronger response against Iran, others said Israelis were ‘losing’, citing disruptions to daily life, schools and tourism.
Published On 8 Jun 20268 Jun 2026
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EXPLAINER
Tensions have escalated between Iran and Israel while ongoing diplomatic efforts have failed to yield a lasting peace deal.
Published On 8 Jun 20268 Jun 2026
Iran and Israel were on Monday locked in tit-for-tat missile attacks, as the fragile ceasefire that has held in place since April 8 appeared closer to collapse than at any point in the past seven weeks.
These escalating hostilities between Iran and Israel come as the United States-Israel war on Iran enters its 101st day on Monday.
Here is what is happening:
Tehran, Iran – An ongoing war of words between Beirut and Tehran has highlighted the central role Lebanon has played in a ceasefire between Iran and the United States.
Iran on Sunday responded to an Israeli strike on an alleged Hezbollah site in southern Beirut – an unofficial red line for Tehran – by launching a barrage of missiles at Israel. Israel then hit Tehran and other cities on Monday, threatening to end a two-month ceasefire between Iran and the US.
Tensions had already heightened after Israeli forces crossed the Litani River last month – a point Israel had unilaterally set as a buffer zone to be cleared of Hezbollah elements – leading the Lebanese government to appeal for an end to foreign interference in the country.
Last week, it was reported that US President Donald Trump had convinced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to target Beirut, understanding that such an escalation could end a regional ceasefire in place since April.
The Israeli invasion has deepened tensions between Iran, which backs Hezbollah, and the Lebanese government, which is seeking exclusive control over weapons in the country. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Thursday warned “there will be no calm in the region” if Israel continued its occupation of southern Lebanon.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun stressed that there is no way to end the war in the country “except through negotiation and diplomacy” and slammed Tehran for “using Lebanon as a bargaining chip in their negotiations” with the US.
He said “Hezbollah must understand that [there is] no other way but to sit and talk”, something Beirut is trying to achieve via direct talks between Israeli and Lebanese officials in Washington, DC.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi responded by saying Aoun appeared to believe Iran, not Israel, was occupying Lebanese territory.
“Had Lebanon been a bargaining chip for Iran, we’d have a deal long ago. Save Lebanon from your real foe, Mr. President,” he posted on X on Saturday, likely referring to Israel and Aoun.
Hezbollah opposes direct talks with Israel and wants Iran to play a greater role in mediated talks to end the crisis, and the situation has led to an increasingly voracious back-and-forth between Beirut and Tehran.
A conditional “ceasefire” currently in effect between the Lebanese government and Israel, negotiated by Washington and excluding Hezbollah representation, set conditions that included the removal of armed groups south of the Litani River.
It also sought the establishment of “pilot zones” in southern Lebanon, where the Lebanese army would have sole authority, allowing the region to come under direct state control.
Negar Mortazavi, a senior fellow at the Washington, DC-based Center for International Policy, noted that while Israel had demonstrated patience regarding its continued offensive in the south, the targeting of Beirut’s southern suburbs, known as Dahiyeh, would be a serious escalation.
“Where exactly is the red line? So far, it seems that Tehran has tolerated attacks in southern Lebanon to some extent as part of a messy ceasefire, and instead allowed Hezbollah to engage with Israel,” she told Al Jazeera before Israel bombed Beirut suburbs on Sunday.
“I think the stalemate cannot continue for too long, so it will be going back to an escalated conflict, or heading for an actual peace deal.”
Iran has stressed that any long-term peace agreement with the US hinges on Israel’s war on Lebanon also ending.
“Hezbollah entered the war with them and helped them, so they want to help them by making them an extension of the peace deal,” Mortazavi said.
Israel’s largely unchallenged advances in southern Lebanon had angered and frustrated hardliners in Iran, who had called for the government to take action.
“Now that I’m speaking with you, it’s correct that [Israel] has stopped attacking Dahiyeh, but except for that, it is hitting wherever it wills,” Abbas Abdi, a state television analyst, told a gathering of state supporters near Enghelab (Revolution) Square in downtown Tehran on Friday night.
Hezbollah flags are regularly waved by supporters of the government during such rallies. On Friday, the iconic Azadi (Freedom) Tower was draped with a Hezbollah flag in a show of support for the Lebanese movement, amid Israel’s offensive in southern Lebanon.
Abdi said such facile shows of solidarity with Hezbollah were not a deterrence and that Iran might have to “show the enemy that negotiations are not important for us”.
“We are still releasing statements and saying we will do such if they do such, but we are not doing anything. Our dear people have gone to the [missile] launchers numerous times to respond, but they have been stopped,” he said.
There have been direct tensions between the two sides in recent weeks, with the US military attacking Iranian islands and the IRGC launching missiles and drones at its Central Command (CENTCOM) bases in Kuwait and Bahrain.
Mostafa Najafi, a state television political analyst, earlier this week characterised the Israeli attacks on Lebanon as intended to go hand-in-hand with the US blockade of Iran’s southern waters to force the government to capitulate.
“The aim of the ring of pressure created in Lebanon is not just Hezbollah, it is against our levers and to weaken our regional activities,” he said, pointing out that this elevates the issue to strategic significance.
“You cannot separate the file of Hezbollah and Lebanon from the file of Iran, because they have a meaningful ideological and geopolitical link together, they are in a geopolitical cluster together,” Najafi said.
Amirhossein Sabeti, a lawmaker representing Tehran in the hardline-dominated parliament, told state television that Trump was only “playing” with Iranian authorities to keep the peace until the World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico is over.
“The US will start a more intense war with the US once the World Cup is over. They will turn the country into a second Gaza, where everything is destroyed,” he said.
“We must be prepared to deal stronger blows than before, and we can do this. We must not wait for them to hit before hitting back; we must strike even when they talk of striking, that’s deterrence.”
Escalation comes after Israel attacked Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, killing at least two people and wounding 20.
Published On 8 Jun 20268 Jun 2026
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On the 100th day of the US-Israeli war on Iran, Al Jazeera’s Mohamed Vall explains how Tehran’s patience has reached its limit with the continuous violations of the ‘ceasefire’. Iran fired missiles at Israel after Israel attacked Beirut on Sunday.
Published On 7 Jun 20267 Jun 2026
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Iran and Israel exchanged threats after Tehran launched missiles towards Israel in response to Israeli strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs. Israel vowed to deepen attacks on Lebanon, while Iran warned of further action if the strikes continue.
Published On 8 Jun 20268 Jun 2026
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Iranian state TV broadcast scenes of celebration in Tehran as missiles flew overhead en route to Israel. Iran says the launch was retaliation for Israel’s earlier attack in Beirut, and other US-Israeli ceasefire breaches.
Published On 7 Jun 20267 Jun 2026
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Iranian media has released video showing missiles being launched towards Israel, while videos captured incoming missiles making impact in northern Israel. Iran says it’s a response to Israel attacking Beirut in violation of a US-brokered ceasefire in Lebanon.
Published On 7 Jun 20267 Jun 2026
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Videos show missiles over Israel as the Israeli military says Iran launched a new wave of attacks. The escalation follows a deadly Israeli strike on Beirut, with Iran warning it would abandon negotiations and return to ‘direct confrontation’.
Published On 7 Jun 20267 Jun 2026
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Israeli forces kill three high-ranking Lebanese soldiers as Arab nations condemn Iran’s attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait.
Published On 7 Jun 20267 Jun 2026
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Department reports raise concerns about increased espionage activity amid US-Israeli war with Iran, ceasefire talks.
The Pentagon’s intelligence arm has raised the assessed threat level on Israeli spying from “high” to “critical” in recent weeks, according to US media.
NBC News first broke news of the change on Friday, with The New York Times issuing its own report the following day.
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The news outlets cited anonymous sources as saying the switch came in light of concerns over increasingly aggressive tactics related to the US-Israeli war with Iran.
They said the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) had raised the alert level amid fears that Israel is increasingly attempting to surveil top US officials. The aim is allegedly to understand internal White House deliberations about ending the war.
US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu have publicly diverged in their approach to the war, which the US and Israel started on February 28.
Trump, on one hand, has repeatedly said he wants to bring the war to a close, amid mounting political pressure at home.
Netanyahu, meanwhile, has called for war to resume, despite an April 8 ceasefire. The fighting has been mostly paused since the temporary truce was announced, but efforts to reach a lasting agreement have repeatedly stalled.
The New York Times reported that, while Israel has been known to spy on the US, the DIA cited an uptick in activities beginning in late 2024, as the administration of US President Joe Biden increased pressure on Israel over its genocidal war in Gaza.
That increase continued into 2025, as Trump returned to the presidency and began deliberating about how to approach Iran.
The newspaper added that other recent intelligence assessments have also documented evidence that there are Israeli efforts to monitor Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff as well as Elbridge Colby, a top policy official at the Pentagon, and his deputy Michael DiMino IV.
Witkoff had been the lead negotiator in nuclear talks that preceded the initial US-Israeli attack on Iran in February.
Both NBC News and The New York Times cited unnamed US officials in their reports. The US Department of Defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Al Jazeera.
However, an unnamed spokesperson told both news organisations that the reports were “false”.
Still, the reported concerns are likely to raise questions over the close intelligence and military coordination between Israel and the US.
Washington has, for years, provided billions in military aid and weapons sales to Israel, including throughout the genocide in Gaza.
The US Congress is also currently debating a section of a new defence bill, which would integrate the two countries’ research and development for weaponry to an unprecedented degree.
While the US and its allies are known to regularly conduct intelligence operations on each other, officials told both NBC and The New York Times that Israel’s recent vigour was unique.
The New York Times reported that the increased DIA designation surpasses all current allies, as well as a handful of countries with more fraught relations.
Recent incidents included Israel’s military intelligence trying to plant listening devices at the DIA headquarters in 2021, according to the newspaper.
In 2025, Israel’s domestic intelligence agency, Shin Bet, was found to have tried to plant a similar device in a Secret Service vehicle, the report said.
The US military released footage showing what they say are military strikes on Iranian radar sites.
CENTCOM claims its forces shot down four Iranian one-way attack drones. Interceptions of strikes were also reported over Kuwait and Bahrain Saturday morning.
Published On 6 Jun 20266 Jun 2026
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US President Donald Trump hailed stronger-than-expected jobs growth before pivoting to Iran, saying negotiations with Tehran “seem to be going quite well”. Trump offered no further details on the talks as he arrived in Wisconsin for an agriculture event.
Published On 5 Jun 20265 Jun 2026
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On Wednesday, Israel and Lebanon announced yet another ceasefire – after they had seemingly already agreed to a truce on April 16.
Iran and the United States have formally had a ceasefire in place since April 8. And Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian group, have had a ceasefire in Gaza since October 10, 2025.
Yet Israel’s attacks on Lebanon continue unchecked, with strikes on the Naqoura and Nabatieh districts of southern Lebanon on Friday, resulting in at least one death. Iran and the US have continued to trade periodic attacks that have picked up in intensity in recent days. The Iranian military has also fired missiles and drones at Gulf nations such as the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain, which it accuses of enabling US attacks on Iran during the ceasefire.
And in Gaza, Israel continues to carry out bombings, including one that killed nine people in a residential building this week, despite a supposed truce aimed at ending its genocidal war on the Palestinian territory.
So what does it mean for a ceasefire to be in place when fighting continues? What does international law say? And why do violations so rarely lead to consequences?
We speak to legal experts to understand:
Simply put, it’s a pause in fighting designed to create space for negotiations, explained Mark Kersten, assistant professor of criminal justice and criminology at the University of the Fraser Valley.
“A ceasefire is effectively a cessation of hostilities, but typically not understood to be a permanent one,” he told Al Jazeera.
It is also often fundamentally a political agreement rather than a strongly enforceable legal instrument, said Michael Lynk, an emeritus professor at Western University in Canada.
Unlike peace treaties, which often have guarantors responsible for oversight and enforcement, ceasefires can be breached with few immediate legal consequences, Lynk told Al Jazeera.
This is especially true in Gaza and Lebanon, where the United States has acted as the principal broker and overseer. While some countries have criticised Israeli strikes in Lebanon, Lynk says there has been little pressure on Washington for allowing repeated violations.
“A number of Global North countries have criticised the continuing Israeli attacks on Lebanon despite the ceasefire, but they have not called out the US for allowing Israel to repeatedly breach the ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon.”
Yes, they are, argues Toby Cadman, a British international human rights lawyer and cofounder of Guernica 37 Chambers.
But, like Kersten and Lynk, Cadman said that ceasefires – which he described as the “temporary, military and diplomatic suspension of military operations” – are inherently fragile. Unlike peace treaties, ceasefires do not resolve the underlying conflict or end the legal state of war.
“It suspends the fighting; it does not end the state of armed conflict,” he said.
Where there is a broader peace agreement, such as in Gaza, the ceasefire too stands – at least in theory – on a stronger footing, said Lynk. The Gaza peace plan that accompanied the ceasefire was endorsed by the UN Security Council through Resolution 2803, which calls for the agreement to be implemented “in its entirety, in good faith and without delay”.
In theory, states could ask the Security Council to sanction parties violating the Gaza agreement. In practice, Lynk explained, the US veto on the body means that neither Israel, nor the US itself, can realistically be censured.
“This is why ceasefires and peace treaties are ultimately political documents because it requires political will to enforce them,” Lynk said.
Palestinians have repeatedly pointed to the violation of the Gaza ceasefire by Israel. The US and Iran routinely accuse each other of breaching their truce. And Israel and Lebanon do the same when it comes to their ceasefire.
So who decides whether a ceasefire has been violated – and by whom?
The answer, according to Cadman, is that “there is no neutral arbiter empowered to determine, with binding effect, who has breached.”
Monitoring mechanisms do exist, but they are largely political bodies overseen by the same states that brokered and guaranteed the agreements. In the case of Gaza and Lebanon, that is the United States. But Washington occupies the unusual position of mediator, guarantor and Israel’s closest military and diplomatic ally.
That means allegations of violations are often filtered through political calculations rather than assessed by an independent legal authority, say experts.
For Kersten, Gaza and Lebanon expose a fundamental contradiction within the international legal system. On paper, international law has succeeded in establishing a broad consensus about the legality of what is taking place.
“The vast majority of the world recognises that what is happening in both contexts is not just wrong, but illegal – thanks to international law.”
Yet recognition has done little to halt the violence. “Little is being done to save lives and stop the carnage,” he said.
The result is a widening gap between legal findings and political action. Courts can investigate, collect evidence and issue rulings as the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice have both done against Israel, but that does not stop bombs from falling or guarantee compliance on the ground.
For Kersten and Lynk, the problem is not a lack of legal standards; it is the persistent failure of states to enforce them, particularly when powerful actors are involved.
“The lack of effective accountability is the hole in the heart of international law and our modern international political system,” Lynk said.
But Kersten said what was clear was that international humanitarian law, human rights law and international criminal law remain fully applicable during a ceasefire.
“Ceasefire provides no legal cover to commit atrocities against civilians.”
That means allegations of war crimes can still be investigated and prosecuted even while a ceasefire is in effect.
Cadman highlights the legal argument most frequently used to justify continued strikes by Israel on Gaza and Lebanon, and by the US against Iran: self-defence.
These arguments rest on Article 51 of the UN Charter, which carves out the right for states to launch unilateral military action against other nations if they are acting in self-defence.
But Cadman said the interpretation of that clause is heavily contested.
“Article 51 answers an armed attack that has happened or is genuinely imminent; it is not a standing licence for preventive strikes.”
Asked by reporters on Wednesday how he defined a ceasefire, given the continuing – though sporadic – attacks that the US and Iran have exchanged in recent weeks, US President Donald Trump said: “It’s a different part of the world, you know. I’d say in that part of a ceasefire is when you’re shooting in a more moderate manner.”
Trump’s comments underscore what legal experts say is at the heart of the persisting violence in Gaza, Lebanon and the Gulf: The lack of any meaningful enforcement mechanism.
The Security Council is constrained by veto powers. The ICJ can issue binding orders but cannot enforce them. The ICC can issue arrest warrants, but depends on states to carry them out.
“The unifying theme is an enforcement deficit,” Cadman said.
Cadman argued that the problem is not that international law lacks rules. Rather, those rules are often applied selectively. “The law is not formally different for Israel or the US; its application is selective.”
EXPLAINER
Israel strikes Lebanon despite ceasefire, while Hezbollah rejects deal as death toll tops 3,500.
Published On 5 Jun 20265 Jun 2026
Israel has continued to carry out deadly strikes across Lebanon despite the announcement of a new US-brokered ceasefire agreement reached by Lebanese and Israeli officials in Washington, DC.
The violence has pushed the number of casualties higher, with Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health reporting that at least 3,526 people have been killed and 10,733 wounded in Israeli attacks since March 2.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem has dismissed the ceasefire as a “farce”, warning that northern Israel will remain a target as long as Israeli forces continue bombing Lebanon, raising more doubts about the prospects for a lasting truce.
Here is what we know:
Israel’s supreme court annuls a government ban on the International Committee of the Red Cross visiting Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
Published On 5 Jun 20265 Jun 2026
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Iran is heading to the World Cup while the country is at war with a host nation, a situation that is unique in the tournament’s history.
The United States-Israel war on Iran began on February 28, and there has been an uneasy ceasefire in place since April 8, but the uncertainty – and occasional flare-up in hostilities – means an end to the conflict is far from certain.
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For the Iranian players and staff, the situation has thrown their World Cup preparations into chaos – all of their matches are scheduled to be played in the US.
The Iran team has spent more than two weeks in Turkiye, mostly practising at the coastal resort Antalya, and some travelled to the capital, Ankara, to submit visa applications at the US embassy.
The team’s participation in the event in the US, Canada and Mexico has long been in doubt and, with the visa situation still up in the air, nothing can yet be fully guaranteed.
“Well, to be honest, it’s not easy,” said Saeid Ezatolahi, a 29-year-old midfielder who also played for Iran in the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
“This is going to be my third World Cup. So for me and some of the other players, it might be easier to manage these kinds of things,” he told The Associated Press news agency in English on the sidelines of a training session on Wednesday.
“But at the end … it is going to be difficult for us because, at the same time, we are following the news in our country and the political things, of course, can affect the mind of the players and the people.”
The team is set to travel to Mexico this weekend after receiving visas from the Mexican embassy in Ankara. The team said Thursday that the process of obtaining entry permits had been finalised for all members of the squad.
Problems with visa processing meant Iran’s World Cup training base was moved from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana, on Mexico’s border with California.
Iran will play its first two games near Los Angeles, which has a large Iranian community, many of whom oppose the current government.
“So for sure, we are expecting to have a lot of fans during our games at the stadium,” Ezatolahi said. “And this is going to be a lot of pressure for us because the expectation is going to be high. I just wish we can make them proud and show them that Iranians, they are prepared for every hard job in the world,” he said.
Mohammad Ghorbani, 24, is going to his first World Cup for Iran.
“It’s true that we are facing special circumstances right now, but we are football players, and we have to play, practise, and prepare ourselves for the competitions we have ahead,” the Abu Dhabi-based player said in Farsi.
“On the other hand, we know that our people have been going through a lot of difficulties throughout the war, and we are going there for them, to get the best results for their joy and the joy of the people of our country.”
The US and Israel killed Iran’s supreme leader and other top officials in their initial attacks. Iran responded with strikes targeting Israel, US forces and the Gulf Arab states. It also has maintained a chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Gulf, imperilling global energy supplies.
Despite the nominal ceasefire, Iran and the US have yet to negotiate a permanent end to the war, and attacks continue in the region.
Iran is in Group G with New Zealand, Belgium and Egypt and Iran’s team is not required to enter the US until June 14, one day before its first match against New Zealand at the Los Angeles Rams’ stadium in Inglewood.
Iran returns to Inglewood to face Belgium on June 21 and completes Group G in Seattle, against Egypt on June 26.
“I’m really proud to be part of my national team,” said Ezatolahi, whose career has taken him to play for clubs in Spain, Russia, England, Belgium, Denmark, Qatar and now Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
“We need to clear up our minds and be fresh because our target and our duty is to fight for our people, to represent our country and to show how good we are,” he said.
Ghorbani agreed, saying the team wants to bring joy to Iranians.
“The best message I can give right now is that the Iranian team is showing what it means to be a team,” he said. “We are showing that we are one team under one flag that can bring joy to our whole country, and to show the power of Iranian players and Iranian people to the world.”
The FIFA World Cup begins on June 11. You can follow the action on Al Jazeera’s dedicated World Cup 2026 page with all the latest news, match build-up and live text commentary and keep up to date with group standings, real-time match results and schedules.
Kuwait and Bahrain have condemned an Iranian missile and drone attack, which Tehran says targeted US military facilities in the Gulf. A strike hit Kuwait’s airport, causing at least one death, dozens of injuries and flight suspensions. Tehran says the strikes are retaliation for US attacks on Iran.
Published On 3 Jun 20263 Jun 2026
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