Iran World Cup team heads to Mexico as US visa row erupts
Iran's World Cup squad have left Turkey for Mexico, taking off under the shadow of a bitter diplomatic row between Tehran and Washington after the US refused to issue visas for some of the team's support squad.
The team took off around 6.10 pm local time for Tijuana in northwest Mexico, where they will be based for the duration of the tournament, on what was expected to be a 20-hour flight, Iranian state TV reported.
The team "took off this evening for Mexico to participate in the World Cup after" training in Turkey, it said.
Team Melli had spent nearly three weeks at a training camp in Antalya, using their time in Turkey to apply for visas to travel to Mexico, Canada and the US.
On the eve of their departure for Mexico, the players received their US visas, Washington's envoy to Turkey Tom Barrack said on X late Friday.
But Iran's embassy to Turkey said a "large" number of managerial and executive staff and others had been denied visas, prompting a furious response.
The dispute erupted just days before the June 11 start of the 2026 World Cup, which is being jointly hosted by the US, Mexico and Canada.
Israeli strike in Gaza kills seven people, including two women, medics say
An Israeli strike killed at least seven Palestinians including two women in Gaza on Saturday, health officials said, as mediators restarted talks in Cairo with Hamas and other factions over safeguarding a strained ceasefire agreement.
Medics said seven people were killed and 15 others, including children, were wounded when an Israeli airstrike targeted a large tent encampment in the heart of Gaza City.
An Israeli military spokesperson told Reuters the military had carried out a strike targeting “terrorists”, but provided no further details.
A ceasefire brokered by President Donald Trump has failed to halt Israeli attacks and left Israel in control of more than half the enclave. Indirect talks on a second phase of the deal have stalled.
Egypt on Saturday began hosting a new round of truce talks with leaders from Hamas and other Palestinian factions, Hamas and other sources close to the negotiations said.
Hazem Qassem, a Hamas spokesperson in Gaza, said the talks would focus on Israel's implementation of the first phase, and reaching common ground on proceeding toward the second phase of the ceasefire deal.
Baby killed in West Bank after Israeli troops open fire on a car, Palestinian health officials say
A seven-month-old baby was killed after Israeli troops opened fired at his parents’ vehicle in the occupied West Bank, with the bullet striking the boy in the face, the Palestinian health ministry said Saturday.
Sam Fahd Abu Haikal was killed Friday evening and his parents were wounded while driving in the Tel Rumeida area south of Hebron, the ministry said. His father, Fahd Abu Haikal, a Bethlehem University lecturer, was shot in the hand. They had been traveling to visit family in Hebron, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA said.
“A bullet pierced the child’s face from the right side and exited from the left side,” and then it struck the boy's mother, the father said. The boy turned seven months on Friday.
The Israeli military said soldiers shot at a vehicle perceived to be accelerating toward them in the Hebron area. It said that the soldiers responded with single shots, wounding three Palestinians, and an initial inquiry found they were uninvolved civilians. The situation was under review.
Lebanese army chief leaves for Pakistan at invitation of counterpart
Lebanese army commander General Rudolf Haykal has left on a visit to Pakistan, Lebanon's army said on Saturday, amid Pakistani efforts to mediate an end to the US-Israeli conflict with Iran that has spilled into Lebanon.
The army said the visit was at the invitation of Haykal's Pakistani counterpart, but did not immediately provide further details on its purpose or duration.
Iran condemns 'flagrant ceasefire violation' after US strikes
Iran has condemned a nighttime US attack on coastal radar installations in the Gulf, calling it a "flagrant" violation of the ceasefire in place since April.
The foreign ministry said it was an attack "on the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic republic", denouncing Washington's "hostile and provocative behaviour".
Iran denounces 'political pressure' from UN nuclear watchdog
Iran has denounced a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) expressing concern over its lack of access to Iranian nuclear sites as a "tool of political pressure"
Tehran was engaged in discussions with Washington about its nuclear programme when the US and Israel attacked it on February 28. Israel had previously struck Iran in June 2025, also while the US and Iran were engaged in nuclear negotiations, with Washington joining with later strikes before a ceasefire was declared.
During both conflicts, Iranian nuclear sites were bombed repeatedly.
"If the agency wants to be part of a diplomatic solution, it must refrain from turning a technical report into a tool of political pressure," Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi wrote on X.
In a confidential report seen by AFP on Thursday, the IAEA stated that the lack of access to nuclear sites in Iran constitutes a "proliferation concern".
"While the agency acknowledged that the military attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities and sites have created an unprecedented situation, it is critical for the agency to conduct verification activities in Iran without delay," the IAEA said in the report.
The IAEA has never condemned the Israeli-American strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
Gharibabadi said the Israeli-American strikes are "not only a violation of Iran's sovereignty", but also "a direct blow to nuclear safety".
"One cannot bomb safeguarded facilities, destroy the access and safety necessary for inspections, and then use the consequences of that very attack as a grievance against Iran," he argued.
Lebanon reactivates second international airport
Lebanon reactivated its second airport on Saturday, preparing for an opening within months, at a time when the country faces constant fighting between Hezbollah and Israel.
Lebanon currently has one international airport, in Beirut next to the capital's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold that has been subjected to heavy Israeli bombardment during successive wars.
The new airport, in the town of Qlayaat in Lebanon's northernmost province of Akkar, near the border with Syria, has been used as a military base by the Lebanese army for decades.
Lebanese Minister of Transport and Public Works Fayez Rasamny inaugurated the airport on Saturday "after more than 50 years of promises, delays and waiting".
"Today we are moving from promise to execution," Rasamny said, adding that the goal is for the airport to be "operational in a few weeks" to serve travellers to Mersin, Istanbul and Dubai, adding there are plans to expand the destinations to Saudi Arabia, Cairo and Athens at a later stage.
Iran state TV says US denied visas to 15 World Cup delegation members
The United States, one of the three host countries of the 2026 World Cup, has refused to grant visas to 15 members of Iran's delegation, state television reported on Saturday.
"Visas have been issued for the national team and the technical staff, and there are 15 members of the administration and management whose visas are problematic and have not been issued by the US," a state television reporter said from the Turkish city of Antalya, where the team is holding a training camp.
Iran’s players pose for a team group photo before a match against Gambia at the Mardan Sports Complex in Antalya, Turkey on May 29, 2026. © Umit Bektas, Reuters
Israeli airstrikes kill 9 including Lebanese army officers after ceasefire deal
Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon on Saturday killed nine people including three members of the Lebanese military, the Lebanese army and state media said, days after the two sides reached a new ceasefire deal.
"A number of military personnel, including an officer, were martyred in a barbaric Israeli raid targeting a military vehicle on the Khardali-Nabatieh road," the Lebanese army said in a statement posted to X.
Israel says it struck south Lebanon military vehicle due to 'threat to its forces'
The Israeli military said it targeted a Lebanese military vehicle after identifying what it described as a threat to its forces and receiving indications that Hezbollah was preparing to fire on Israeli troops from the area.
Several soldiers were killed in the strike, the Lebanese army said.
Israel said an initial inquiry showed that two Lebanese army officers and a soldier were inside the vehicle and that the incident was under review.
Kuwait says Iran targeted international airport in renewed attack
Iran slams US 'discriminatory treatment' over World Cup visa refusals
Iran has criticised World Cup host the United States over what it called "discriminatory treatment" by not granting visas for some members of the Iranian delegation to attend the tournament.
"Why do you not say that visas were denied to a large portion of the managerial and executive staff, technical advisers, and others who are an integral part of any national football team?" the Iranian embassy in Turkey said in a post on X, referring to an earlier announcement by US envoy Tom Barrack that visas had been granted to players.
"You have now escalated the deliberate and discriminatory treatment against Iran's national football team to its highest level," the embassy added.
Iran says IAEA is politicising oversight of Tehran's nuclear programme
Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said that the UN nuclear watchdog should avoid turning technical reports into "tools of political pressure" if it wanted to contribute to a diplomatic solution.
He said that the loss of the agency's oversight at some facilities resulted from the attacks rather than a lack of cooperation by Iran, adding that the International Atomic Energy Agency was using the consequences of US and Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites to create "ambiguity" about Tehran's nuclear programme.
Iran says frozen funds key to progress in US talks
The release of frozen Iranian funds has become a key issue in negotiations between Tehran and Washington aimed at ending their war, a senior Iranian official said.
Iran has been subject to asset freezes and sweeping sanctions by the United States and other Western countries since its 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled the US-backed Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
While there is no official figure for the total amount of frozen Iranian assets, media reports have estimated the sum at between $100 billion and $123 billion.
In an interview broadcast on Friday, Mohsen Rezaei, a former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and an adviser to Iran's supreme leader, said the talks were failing over the release of the assets.
"If he (Trump) wants to reach an agreement with Iran, this $24 billion is a test of trust that Iran wants to have with Trump," he told CNN, according to an English translation of his remarks provided by the channel.
"This is a test that America must pass and the path will be opened," he said, adding that "this is our own money, not America's money".
China best prepared for closure of Strait of Hormuz, says Russian oil CEO
China is best prepared for a closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to its well-thought-out state policy, Igor Sechin, CEO of Russia's largest oil producer Rosneft, said on Saturday .
China's energy security policy has been balanced and based on a realistic assessment of risks, Sechin said.
Bahrain says targeted by Iran, denounces 'blatant aggression'
Bahrain's foreign ministry has decried attacks by Iran against its territory and neighbouring Kuwait, saying the two Gulf countries intercepted seven missiles fired by the Islamic republic.
"The ministry of foreign affairs strongly condemns the renewed attacks by the Islamic Republic of Iran against the Kingdom of Bahrain and the sisterly State of Kuwait," Bahrain, which hosts the US Fifth Fleet, said in a statement.
"This blatant aggression constitutes a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of both countries," it added.
Lebanese army says 'several' soldiers killed by Israeli strike in south
Several Lebanese soldiers, including an officer, were killed in an Israeli strike targeting their military vehicle on the Khardali-Nabatieh road in south Lebanon, the Lebanese army said.
The Lebanese army has historically avoided involvement in confrontations between Hezbollah and Israel and has not engaged Israel in the current conflict.
FRANCE 24's Antonia Kerrigan reports from Beirut.
Grief 'omnipresent' in Lebanon as civilian death toll continues to climb
Israeli and Hezbollah continue to trade attacks, the death toll is rising among civilians in Lebanon with medical staff and aid workers among those killed. "The grief is just absolutely omnipresent" says FRANCE 24's Antonia Kerrigan reporting from Beirut.
UN food agency says millions are being pushed into hunger by Iran war
The UN food agency said millions of people are being pushed into acute hunger by the Iran war, as it warned would happen if the conflict escalated and oil prices remained high.
In March, World Food Program predicted that 45 million people could be pushed into food insecurity by the end of June. That would be on top of the 318 million people around the world who are already food insecure.
“We remain by that prognosis,” WFP’s acting Executive Director Carl Skau told UN reporters.
“The correlation between the prices of energy and food is so tight in many places. In the poorest countries people are already spending all their money on food, and hence when food prices rise, they eat less.”
WFP said in its report, circulated late Thursday, that its findings indicate the Mideast crisis is generating “significant spillovers," particularly on the prices of food and fuel, and disrupting trade.
“These impacts are expected to intensify in the coming months, even if the crisis in the Middle East de-escalates,” WFP said.
Kuwait says responding to 'hostile' missile and drone attacks
Kuwait's military said early Saturday is was responding to "hostile" missile and drone attacks, without specifying their origin.
"The General Staff of the Kuwaiti Armed Forces confirms that any explosions that may be heard are the result of air defense systems intercepting hostile attacks," the Kuwait Army added.
Yesterday's key developments
- The United States imposed new sanctions on Iran targeting network allegedly using front companies in the United Arab Emirates and China to export liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from Iran to South and Eastern Asia by falsely flagging it as originating in Oman , the Treasury said.
- Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi dismissed the idea of his country's supreme leader meeting US President Donald Trump , after Trump floated the prospect. "I think we should be realistic and think and live in the real world," Araghchi said.
- Lebanese President Joseph Aoun urged Iran not to interfere in his country in an interview broadcast on Friday, also telling the Tehran-backed Hezbollah that diplomacy was the only solution to the conflict with Israel . He said Iran's leader's were "using Lebanon as a bargaining chip" in their negotiation with the United States which was "unacceptable".
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
