The United Arab Emirates is working on a plan to end its dependence on the Strait of Hormuz, Bloomberg reported, citing an interview with UAE Minister of Foreign Trade Thani Al Zeyoudi.
“We’re moving toward having zero Hormuz dependency and that’s regardless of whether it’s open or not,” Al Zeyoudi said.
“It’s going to open and we hope that will happen quickly, but we will not stop the new plan,” he added.
The US, Iran and mediators are discussing holding the signing of a memorandum of understanding, currently scheduled for Friday, as early as Wednesday, Axios reported, citing a diplomat from one of the mediating countries and a second source familiar with the discussions.
If that happens, the MoU would be signed electronically, the parts of the deal concerning the Strait of Hormuz would go into effect, and the US might release the text of the agreement, the report said.
Axios cited the diplomatic source as saying the talks on accelerating the timetable were intended to open the Strait of Hormuz sooner than Friday, as both parties agreed on that issue.
As of Wednesday morning, no final decision had been made about shifting the signing, the report said.
Even if the timing changes, the meeting between US and Iranian delegations headed by Vice President Vance and Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf will take place as planned on Friday in Switzerland, the report added.
They are expected to discuss the launch of negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program, the report said.
A senior administration official told reporters the deal was signed electronically on Sunday by President Donald Trump, Vance and Ghalibaf. Axios cited a diplomatic source as saying no such signing had taken place.
Iran's negotiating team’s planned trip to Switzerland has not been canceled, IRGC-affiliated Fars News Agency reported, citing an informed source close to the team.
The source said details related to signing a memorandum of understanding were still being discussed and reviewed by the relevant parties, and no final decision had been made.
The source added that consultations were continuing at various levels and that any final decision on signing the MoU or related plans would be announced.
Iran’s World Cup match with New Zealand was not just a football game but a rare glimpse into the trauma and deep divisions many Iranians carry at home and abroad.
As Iran twice came from behind to draw 2-2 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, fans cheered different goals for different reasons. Some celebrated every Iranian attack. Others openly rooted against a team they view as inseparable from the Islamic Republic.
The divided reactions reflected a question that has become increasingly fraught since January 8-9, 2026, when the Islamic Republic launched a nationwide crackdown on anti-regime protesters that killed tens of thousands of unarmed civilians: can one support Team Melli without supporting the state it represents?
The trauma of those events continues to reverberate far beyond Iran's borders.
At SoFi Stadium, one fan wore a custom jersey marked "8-9," a reference instantly recognizable to many Iranians as the dates of the deadliest two nights in Iran's modern history.
"I felt proud to be Iranian, but with a mixed bag of emotions, carrying the weight of everything that the regime has done and what the people have suffered," actress and activist Nazanin Nour told Iran International.
Nour said she ultimately decided to attend the game despite her conflicted feelings because the regime has taken so much from Iranians worldwide, and she did not want it to deprive her of the joy of the sport as well.
"I think everybody's feelings are informed by their pain and trauma and everything that we've witnessed over the last not just few months but 47 years," she said. "It makes sense that everybody feels like this is a really weird time but still a time to be proud of who we are and where we come from."
A team added
Since the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom protests, players have faced scrutiny over whether they sing the national anthem, meet state officials or publicly support protesters.
Supporters and critics alike increasingly view the national team through a political lens because it officially represents the Islamic Republic.
While some players and football federation officials have shown alignment with the state, others have faced pressure for expressing solidarity with anti-government protests or refusing to sing the national anthem.
Former Iranian national team goalkeeper and coach Mohammad Rashid Mazaheri has been held by Iranian authorities since late February 2026 after criticizing the leader in an Instagram post.
For many Iranians, his case is another reminder of how even prominent athletes can face severe repercussions—even death—for expressing dissent.
"We're a world away from past World Cups, when, regardless of politics, Iranians inside the country and across the diaspora were united behind Team Melli," said Holly Dagres, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute.
That unity was perhaps best illustrated in 1998, when Iran's victory over the United States sparked celebrations from Tehran to Los Angeles.
Pride and protest
Before kickoff, hundreds of protesters gathered outside SoFi Stadium waving anti-government signs and the pre-revolution Lion and Sun flag in a city home to one of the world's largest Iranian diasporas.
Despite FIFA's ban on the Lion and Sun flag, videos circulating online showed numerous fans displaying it inside the stadium.
Among those in attendance was activist Mersedeh Shahinkar, who was blinded in one eye after being shot directly in the eye by security forces during the 2022 protests. Shahinkar, who later fled Iran and now lives in the United States, arrived carrying a Lion and Sun flag.
Shahinkar confronted supporters of the Islamic Republic both inside and outside the stadium, where tensions at times spilled into verbal confrontations and some spectators called fans carrying Iran’s current flag "terrorists."
At times, Shahinkar pointed to the empty eye socket left after she was shot during the 2022 protests, a reminder of the price many Iranians have paid in opposing the state.
Iranian-American news anchor Shally Zomorodi later posted a video to Instagram with tears in her eyes, saying two men confronted her husband over his Lion and Sun logo.
"The hardest part of tonight," she wrote. "Two Iranian men saw my husband with the Lion Sun logo on his shirt and started cursing at him and tried to start a fight with Bruce."
But the atmosphere was not uniformly hostile, said Nour, who witnessed fans carrying Lion and Sun flags sitting near supporters displaying Iran’s official flag.
"I just saw people enjoying a game and being respectful of each other's opinions," she said.
Inside the stadium, boos rang out during the national anthem while many fans appeared to cheer individual players rather than the state they represent.
After the match, Iranian goalscorer Ramin Rezaeian pushed back when asked by a US journalist about fans whistling and booing during the national anthem.
"That's none of your business," he said. "What happens between Iranians is our own matter, and we will resolve it ourselves."
The same arguments played out far from California.
In North Vancouver, home to a large Iranian Canadian community, some crowds—even those displaying Iran's pre-revolutionary flag—erupted in cheers when Iran scored against New Zealand.
A sign of just how complicated the issue can be.
"We're here for the players only," Zina Monjazeb of Los Angeles told Reuters. "We're not here supporting the regime, at all."
Others rejected that distinction entirely.
"We believe that this is not the Iranian team. This is the Islamic regime," Naderi Alizadeh, 39, of San Diego, told Reuters.
In one scene captured on social media, Iranian player Mehdi Taremi is seen handing his shirt to a fan displaying the Lion and Sun flag.
For some Iranians, Team Melli remains a source of national pride distinct from the state it represents. For others, the jersey has become inseparable from the government behind it.
Ninety minutes of football did not resolve the argument. But for one night, it revealed just how deeply it now runs.
Iranian authorities have impounded a Porsche belonging to prominent Iranian footballer Sardar Azmoun.
The police commander of Kerman County in southeastern Iran said the vehicle had been on a list of cars marked for impoundment and was transferred to a parking lot after legal procedures were completed.
Azmoun was reportedly left out of Iran’s World Cup squad over a photo he posted during the war with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai. Iran was attacking the UAE at the time over what it called the country’s complicity in US-Israeli attacks on Iran.
Iran’s judiciary-affiliated Mizan news agency reported in March that authorities had seized some of Azmoun’s assets and accused him of “cooperating with a hostile enemy.”
President Donald Trump on Wednesday said the memorandum of understanding with Iran was “very strong” and said he believed Tehran wanted to make a deal.
Trump said he thought Iran would follow through, but warned that “the process will start again” if Iran does not agree to a final deal resolving nuclear issues.
"I would think they would do it," Trump said on the sidelines of the Group of 7 conference in France. "If they don't, then that's, you know, that's okay. We'll have to start the process again, and we don't lose."
He said he wanted Israel to be able to protect itself, while adding that he wanted Israel to use “good judgment.”