{"id":333495,"date":"2026-03-11T12:42:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T12:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/333495\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T12:42:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T12:42:08","slug":"live-updates-iran-war-news-attacks-on-ships-in-strait-of-hormuz-escalate-as-tehran-launches-intense-strikes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/333495\/","title":{"rendered":"Live updates: Iran war news, attacks on ships in Strait of Hormuz escalate, as Tehran launches \u2018intense\u2019 strikes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/gettyimages-2258929856.jpg?c=original&amp;q=w_1280,c_fill\/f_avif\" alt=\"FIFA President Gianni Infantino holds the FIFA World Cup Trophy as he addresses the winter meeting of The US Conference of Mayors in Washington D.C., on January 29.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"1334\" width=\"2000\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmluzbdv00023b6tfab9zepl@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            FIFA President Gianni Infantino said US President Donald Trump assured him during a meeting that Iran\u2019s national team is welcome to participate in this summer\u2019s World Cup matches in the US, even as the war with Iran expands in the Middle East.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmluzqwq00053b6td6q08qk8@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Infantino said he met Tuesday with Trump and discussed preparations for the tournament, which begins  in June, as well as the Iranian team\u2019s qualification for the event.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmlv05qd000d3b6tb5daekh5@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n             \u201cDuring the discussions, President Trump reiterated that the Iranian team is, of course, welcome to compete in the tournament in the United States,\u201d Infantino said in an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DVutygMD2RR\/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&amp;igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA%3D%3D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Instagram post <\/a>following the meeting.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmluzqwr00063b6thvnsy2l4@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Whether the team will attend, however, remains unclear.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmluzqwr00073b6t4xqbc5r6@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Mehdi Taj, president of Iran\u2019s soccer federation, recently suggested the country\u2019s participation <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2026\/03\/08\/sport\/donald-trump-world-cup-iran-analysis\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">could be in doubt<\/a>.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmluzqwr00083b6ty0ffu45b@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cWhat is certain is that after this attack, we cannot be expected to look forward to the World Cup with hope,\u201d Taj told sports portal Varzesh3.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmluzqwr00093b6tcoobaqfm@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Even before the latest tensions, Iran\u2019s involvement in the tournament was already complicated by US travel restrictions.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmluzqws000a3b6tv0dks0ef@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Iran\u2019s fans were previously told they would not be eligible for visas to enter the United States for the tournament, raising questions about whether fans would be able to attend matches if the team ultimately participates. And the Iranian delegation nearly boycotted last year\u2019s draw in Washington, DC, after more than half of the group saw their visa applications denied.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmluzqws000b3b6tjnac5w66@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Infantino framed the tournament as a potential moment for global unity despite the tensions.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmluzqws000c3b6t12sbvhwp@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cWe all need an event like the FIFA World Cup to bring people together now more than ever,\u201d he wrote in the post, thanking Trump for his support. \u201cFootball unites the world.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>        <script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FIFA President Gianni Infantino said US President Donald Trump assured him during a meeting that Iran\u2019s national team&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":333496,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-333495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=333495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/333496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=333495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=333495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=333495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}