Italy’s repechage to World Cup, a look at what happened in Islamabad: no good news coming

JD Vance’s announcement comes from Islamabad in the middle of the night and creates further strong international concern: “The United States has not reached an agreement with Iran.” The vice president, already departing Pakistan, explained that “there is no commitment from Tehran to permanently abandon its nuclear program.”

In contrast, a different reading emerges from the Iranian version: according to Tehran, the talks broke down due to “unreasonable demands from the United States,” while pointing out that an understanding was not expected as early as the first round of negotiations anyway.

In the meantime, Pakistan calls on both sides to maintain the ceasefire. A number of unresolved issues remain on the table, including the issue of the Strait of Hormuz, Lebanon, the nuclear issue, the sanctions regime, frozen assets, and possible war reparations, all of which have hindered reaching an agreement.

Football is much less important at this dramatic time, of course, but what is happening will also have an impact on the World Cup to be played between June and July in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. As is well known, Iran, which qualified on the field, has already let it be known that it will not play its matches on the territory presided over by Donald Trump, but Fifa has not yet accepted the proposal that came from Tehran: among those who aspire to take the place of the Asian selection is Italy.