Taremi is stuck in Iran and could miss Inter Milan's Club World Cup debut

Unable to travel from Iran to the United States, the venue for the Club World Cup , striker Mehdi Taremi is expected to miss Inter Milan , runners-up in the last Champions League, in their debut in the competition. The player was supposed to fly from Tehran to Los Angeles on Friday the 13th, where the team is based, but his country's airspace is closed due to an armed conflict with Israel.

According to the Italian newspaper "Gazzetta dello Sport ", Taremi went to the airport in the Iranian capital, but had to return for security reasons. The player went to his country to play in the Asian Qualifiers against Qatar and North Korea - Iran has guaranteed its place in the 2026 World Cup.

Inter Milan kick off their campaign against Mexico's Monterrey on Tuesday at 10pm (Brasília time) at the Rose Bowl stadium in Los Angeles. The Italian side will also face Japan's Urawa Red Diamonds and Argentina's River Plate.

For now, coach Chivu will be able to count on the usual Thuram in attack, behind whom are only Sebastiano Esposito and Valentin Carboni, who, however, has returned from a long absence. Sebastiano's brother Pio is recovering from a muscle injury and should only return for the third match against River Plate.

Currently, coach Cristian Chivu, who took over the team after Simone Inzaghi transferred to Saudi Arabia's Al-Hilal, has just three attackers for the first game: Lautaro Martínez, Marcus Thuram and Sebastiano Esposito.

Mehdi Taremi joined Inter from Porto last season and made 43 appearances, scoring three goals and providing seven assists. He played in all of the Italian side's Champions League matches except the final against Paris Saint-Germain, who went on to win the title in Munich.