Will the Iranian national football team participate in the World Cup?

FIFA President Gianni Infantino confirmed Iran's participation in the World Cup, despite the state of war between it and the United States, saying: "The Iranian team is definitely coming, yes, and we hope of course that by then the situation has reached peace."

Speaking at the CNBC Investment Forum, Infantino said: "As I mentioned earlier, it will definitely help, but Iran has to come, they represent their people, they have qualified, the players want to play.

The FIFA president noted that he met with the Iranian team in the Turkish city of Antalya two weeks ago, saying: "I went to see them, they are actually a very good team, they really want to play, they should play, as sport should remain out of politics for now."

"We don't live on the moon, we live on Earth, but as you know, if there's no one else who believes in building bridges and keeping them intact and interconnected, we're the ones doing the job.

The Iranian team is scheduled to play two matches in the group stage in Englewood, California, and one match in Seattle, where the United States will co-host the World Cup with Canada and Mexico.

The Iranian national team is participating in the World Cup finals, within Group G, which includes Egypt, Belgium and New Zealand.

 Previously, FIFA rejected the request of the Iranian Football Federation to move the team's matches in the group stage to Mexico instead of holding them in the United States, in light of the US-Israeli war on the country.

 The current state of war has raised doubts about Iran's participation in the World Cup, especially in light of conflicting public statements by Iranian government officials and football officials in the country, with Iran's Sports Minister Ahmad Dunia Mali previously telling Anadolu Agency that FIFA must ensure the security of any national team participating in the World Cup, and if not, it should not allow World Cup matches to be held in the United States.

 He continued: "Under these circumstances, the possibility of Iran's participation in the World Cup matches in America is very low, but if the necessary security guarantees are provided, the government's decision will be the participation of the team in the tournament."

 For his part, US President Donald Trump did not encourage the Iranian team to attend the tournament, citing safety and security concerns.