Mehdi Taremi was unable to travel to Los Angeles on Saturday to join up with the Inter Milan squad. The striker, who had returned to Iran after international duty, is currently grounded as the country’s airspace remains closed following the escalation of hostilities with Israel.
The Iranian forward, who scored and assisted during his two appearances for the national team against North Korea, had planned to fly directly from Tehran to California to report to manager Cristian Chivu.
However, the growing conflict between Iran and Israel has forced the Iranian authorities to shut down national airspace as a security measure, leaving thousands of travellers stranded, including Taremi.
According to reports in Italy, Inter are in regular contact with the player and are trying to find a solution, though the situation may be beyond their control for the time being.
Until Taremi is able to make the journey—whether by waiting for flights to resume or attempting to travel via a neighbouring country—Chivu will be relying on Marcus Thuram and Lautaro Martinez, both of whom have only just arrived in the United States after international duty as his only fit senior strikers.
On the bench, two youngsters are still recovering from injury: Francesco Pio Esposito, who missed the Under-21 Euros with a knee issue and is unlikely to be available until the third group match, and Valentin Carboni, sidelined for the past eight months with a torn ACL.
Neither Marko Arnautovic, whose contract has expired, nor Joaquin Correa, now at Botafogo, will be involved in the tournament. Regardless of the setbacks, Inter are pressing ahead with preparations for their opening match, set for Tuesday, 17 June in Los Angeles against Monterrey.