Iran continuing World Cup preparations but will not play in US, says soccer chief

March 19 : The Iranian national team are continuing to prepare for the World Cup finals and have no intention of pulling out of the tournament even if they will not travel to the United States, soccer chief Mehdi Taj said on Wednesday.

Iran were one of the first nations to qualify for the finals but their participation has been in doubt since the conflict between the Islamic Republic and the United States began in late February.

The tournament runs from June 11 to July 19 and is being staged in the U.S., Mexico and Canada.

Team Melli are scheduled to play all three of their opening-round group matches in the U.S. but Taj said on Monday the Iranian FA (FFIRI) was negotiating with FIFA to have them moved to Mexico.

Iran will play Nigeria on March 27 and Costa Rica four days later in Antalya as part of a four-nation invitational tournament that had to be moved from Jordan because of the conflict in the Middle East.

"The national team is holding a training camp in Turkey, and we will also play two friendly matches there," FFIRI President Taj was quoted as saying by the Fars News Agency on Wednesday.

"We will boycott America, but we will not boycott the World Cup."

Taj was speaking on Wednesday as he welcomed the players from the women's national team back to Iran at the border crossing from Turkey after their protracted journey from Australia.

All of the delegation, who were in Australia for the Women's Asian Cup, were offered asylum by the host nation because of fears for their safety in Iran. While seven accepted, only two ended up staying.

U.S. President Donald Trump had urged Australia to offer the players asylum and later said that while the Iranian men were welcome to play in the U.S., it might not be appropriate for their