Iran’s soccer team forced to commute to US

Iran's national soccer team will sleep in Mexico and travel to the United States on the days of its three World Cup matches after Washington declined to host the squad for the tournament, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Monday.

Sheinbaum said FIFA approached her government after US authorities said they did not want Iran staying in the country throughout the June 11-July 19 competition, even though Iran is scheduled to play three Group G matches there.

"We have no reason to deny them the possibility of staying in Mexico," Sheinbaum told her daily press conference.

Iran is due to face New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15, Belgium in Los Angeles on June 21 and Egypt in Seattle on June 26.

The White House and the State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

US President Donald Trump said in March that Iran was welcome to participate in the World Cup but that he did not believe it was appropriate for Iran's team to be in the United States "for their own life and safety."

Mehdi Taj, head of Iran's football federation, said on Saturday the team's base would be moved from Arizona to the Mexican border city of Tijuana during the tournament. FIFA confirmed the move on Monday.

Taj added that the swap would help avoid visa-related complications and allow direct Iran Air flights to Mexico.

Iran's World Cup plans have been under scrutiny since late February, when the US joined Israel in attacks on Iran, triggering a war that raised doubts over whether Tehran would send its team to play in one of the host countries.

In March, Taj said Iran was in talks with FIFA about moving its group matches to Mexico on safety grounds, and Sheinbaum said Mexico would be open to hosting them. FIFA kept the schedule unchanged.

The uncertainty fueled wider speculation about Iran's place at the tournament. In April, Trump's envoy for global partnerships, Paolo Zampolli, suggested Italy should replace Iran, prompting a dismissive response from Italian officials and FIFA.

Iran qualified for a fourth consecutive World Cup by topping its group in the third round of Asian qualifying last year.

The fresh US strikes on Iranian boats and missile sites have spooked financial markets and sent the oil price climbing again.

In early trading today, the S&P/ASX 200 Index dipped 0.4 per cent.

The price of Brent crude oil, the global benchmark, rose in Asian trading, up 1.6 per cent to $US97.64 a barrel.

Australia's economy is proving to be resilient despite the pressures of the war, the country's biggest bank says.

In a new update, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia highlights how household spending in the three weeks to May 16 grew by 5.3 per cent.

Travel spending remains soft but has recovered slightly over the past couple of weeks.

"The pace of spending growth is clearly softer than the second half of 2025, but likely not soft enough to get inflation back to target," the CBA said.

"The temporary fuel excise tax cut and other measures have eased the initial shock from the Iran war."

Donald Trump has upped his criticism of former US president Barack Obama's approach on Iran, this time posting AI-themed memes on Truth Social.

Trump has previously slammed the Obama administration for signing the US up to an agreement in 2015 aimed at restricting Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.

The current president has just posted two contrasting images - one of a pallet of cash labelled "OBAMA'S IRAN POLICY', beside an image of an American battleship with its guns blazing tagged "TRUMP'S IRAN POLICY".

Trump has insisted any deal with Iran would involve "no cash" or the immediate lifting of sanctions.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has ordered authorities to restore internet access, the country's semi-official Fars News Agency said overnight in a report citing a source in the Ministry of Communications.

It did not say when the restoration would take effect or specify which restrictions would be lifted.

Iran began restricting internet access last December, according to NetBlocks and other monitoring groups, following mass anti-government demonstrations, largely sparked by the country's plunging economy.

Authorities tightened the restrictions as the protests expanded into broader calls for political change, and by the end of February, amid the onset of US and Israeli military strikes, it had implemented a near-total disconnection.

In a post on X this week, NetBlocks said the shutdown had lasted more than 2064 hours and had "eliminated any transparency around executions," while adding to what it described as "inhumane conditions and daily uncertainty" faced by jailed critics and dissidents.

- With CNN

Here are some further reported details about the US strikes on Iranian boats and missile targets close to the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian Revolutionary Guard boats were spotted laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, and American forces also responded after a missile base had locked on to US military planes, reports Fox News, quoting a top US official.

The US military eliminated both vessels and also struck the surface-to-air missile, site in the port city of Bandar Abbas.

"These were defensive strikes," the official told Fox News. The attacks do not indicate that the ceasefire has ended, two additional sources said.

The US military has carried out "self-defence strikes" targeting Iranian missile launch sites and boats around the Strait of Hormuz, according to US Central Command.

The operations overnight came amid a ceasefire between the two countries and ongoing talks to end the conflict

"US forces conducted self-defense strikes in southern Iran today to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces," CENTCOM spokesman Timothy Hawkins told CNN in a statement when asked about explosions reported around the Strait of Hormuz.

"Targets included missile launch sites and Iranian boats attempting to emplace mines. US Central Command continues to defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire," he added.

It's not the first time American and Iranian forces have exchanged fire during the ceasefire.

Trump previously gave the green light for the US military to respond to Iranian provocations around the waterway.

There are early signs of a deal in the works over Iran's highly enriched uranium stocks.

Donald Trump has just posted a message on Truth Social, saying he wants the global atomic energy watchdog to be present if Iran discards its uranium.

"The Enriched Uranium (Nuclear Dust!) will either be immediately turned over to the United States to be brought home and destroyed or, preferably, in conjunction and coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran, destroyed in place or, at another acceptable location, with the Atomic Energy Commission, or its equivalent, being witness to this process and event," the president's post said.

Last weekend, a US official said the Iranian regime had agreed in principle to dispose of its highly-enriched uranium.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has just spoken about intensifying attacks against Hezbollah, pledging to "wipe out" the terrorist organisation.

"We're not taking our foot off the gas; on the contrary, I've said to step on the gas even harder," the Israeli prime minister said in a video message.

He was speaking just after the Israeli Defence Forces reported hitting multiple targets across southern Lebanon.

The Israeli Defence Forces says it attacked more than 70 Hezbollah sites across Lebanon over the past 24 hours.

About 10 command centres, weapons storage facilities and additional infrastructure targets were struck in the southern Tyre region alone, the IDF said on X.

Hezbollah operatives riding motorcycles in southern Lebanon were also eliminated, it said.