Trump says Xi offered help on Iran deal

Iran’s deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi said host countries of the FIFA World Cup are obligated to ensure equal and non-discriminatory treatment for all qualified teams, warning against what he called the politicization of the tournament.

In a statement posted on X on Thursday, Gharibabadi said Iran had secured its place at the World Cup “through official FIFA channels” and that any restrictions on Iranian players, officials or staff would violate the principles of international sport.

“The World Cup is a global event and is incompatible with political discrimination,” he wrote, adding that FIFA’s statutes prohibit discrimination against countries and individuals.

His remarks come amid growing concerns in Tehran over possible visa and entry restrictions for Iranian officials and team members linked to the IRGC ahead of the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

US President Donald Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping told him Beijing would not provide military equipment to Iran, while also saying China wanted to continue buying Iranian oil.

“He said he’s not going to give military equipment. That’s a big statement,” Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity.

Trump said China was not “fighting a war” with the United States but added that Xi raised Beijing’s oil purchases from Iran.

“They buy a lot of their oil there and they’d like to keep doing that,” Trump said.

Iran is still ruled by a “revolutionary terrorist regime” despite the deaths of senior leaders, US Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper said on Thursday.

Asked at a Senate hearing by Senator Tom Cotton whether that description of Iran still applied, Cooper replied: “They are.”

Cooper also agreed that Iran no longer had nearly as much military capability to act on its intentions, adding that the country had been “significantly degraded” across every element of national power.

A former FBI agent warned that Iranian sleeper cells in the United States could pose a security threat during the upcoming FIFA World Cup, urging President Donald Trump to consider demonstrating military power with a Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, known as the MOAB.

Jonathan Gilliam, a former FBI special agent and Navy SEAL, told Fox News that Iran could activate operatives already inside the United States during the tournament, which is set to begin in June across the US, Canada and Mexico.

“I would hope that the president makes it known before this occurs, that if Iran does anything during these World Cup events, that it's going to be not just a retaliatory strike, but that would be the end of any talks and that he will lay waste to everything and anything that is the Iranian regime if that occurs,” Gilliam said.

Gilliam also suggested Trump could send what he described as a clear deterrent message by using a MOAB in Iran.

“I think if the president did that, and he showed that he was very serious, gave some sign, dropped a MOAB in the middle of nowhere in Iran and said, ‘this is what's going to occur if you if you touch anyone in the United States.’ ... This is what's coming to you,” he said.

“A MOAB, that's the largest non-nuclear conventional bomb in the world in history. And you can drop that somewhere and make a dramatic impact if the president was to show force like Iran does,” Gilliam added.

US Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper said Iran’s command and control had been “significantly fractured” by US strikes and that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards were exercising “significant authority.”

“The negotiations themselves are held via diplomatic channels, and I would really refer to the diplomats to address that,” Cooper told a Senate committee when asked who had the power to negotiate in Iran.

“But clearly, from a military perspective, their command control was significantly fractured as a result of our strikes,” he said.

Asked whether the IRGC was in charge, Cooper said: “The IRGC is exercising significant authority.”