Inside Iran, World Cup team brings joy despite uncertainty around U.S. peace talks

“Even during wartime, people would still spend time together and try to enjoy life. What else could we do? Life had to go on,” one fan said.

TEHRAN, Iran — For a brief moment Sunday, when striker Mehdi Taremi put the ball into the Belgian net, joy was unbridled across the Iranian capital — a welcome change in a city where the majority of the conversation is dominated by talk of the war.

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Then the goal was ruled out for offside and, as the team continued to battle to keep its second World Cup match unscored, war was never far away in the city dotted with billboards honoring the schoolchildren killed by a U.S. strike on Feb. 28.

And as negotiations to end the conflict were playing out in Switzerland, in Los Angeles, the team was cheered by a boisterous crowd filled with members of the Iranian diaspora.