Iranian players obtained their American visas to play in the Football World Cup, just as the United States and Iran exchanged new strikes in the Gulf.
The American Ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack, and the State Department announced Friday that Iranian players and "necessary support personnel" had obtained their visas for the United States, where they must play their three matches in the first round of the 2026 World Cup.
The Iranian agency Fars, however, indicated that "more than ten members of the sports and medical support staff" of the selection had had their visas refused, as had the president of the Iranian Football Federation, Mehdi Taj, a former commander of the Revolutionary Guards.
Iran was the first country to qualify for the World Cup but its participation was called into question after the launch of Israeli-American strikes on the country on February 28. Uncertainties over obtaining visas forced the selection to move its base camp for the tournament from Tucson (Arizona) to Tijuana, Mexico, where it must take up residence on Sunday.
Iran will play its first match on June 15 in Los Angeles against New Zealand.
A few hours after confirming that they would welcome Iranian footballers, the United States announced a new strike against Iran, despite the ceasefire theoretically in force since April 8.
The American army "shot down four drones (...) launched in the direction of the Strait of Hormuz", which "represented an immediate threat to regional maritime traffic", wrote on X the American Military Command for the Middle East (Centcom).
"US forces then struck Iranian coastal surveillance radar sites in Goruk and Qeshm Island to defend against further attacks," Centcom added.
- Kuwait and Bahrain attacked -
The island of Qeshm had already been struck on Tuesday by the American army.
Explosions were heard by journalists in Sirik, a town neighboring Goruk, Iranian state television Irib reported on Telegram.
In response, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards announced on state media that they had struck “enemy bases” in the region using missiles.
The Kuwaiti army at the same time announced that the emirate was attacked by missiles and drones, three days after an attack on its airport attributed to Iran. An air alert was also triggered in Bahrain.
AFP journalists in these two countries, which host major American military bases, said they heard explosions, particularly near Kuwait airport.
"We were woken up by deafening explosions. The blasts were extremely loud. My children were terrified
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