Iran cannot participate in the 2026 World Cup after the United States killed their leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the sports minister, Ahmad Donyamali, said on Wednesday.

The United States and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran nearly two weeks ago, killing the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader, leading to a region-wide conflict in the Gulf.

“Considering that this corrupt regime [the US] has assassinated our leader, under no circumstances can we participate in the World Cup,” the minister told state television. “Our children are not safe and, fundamentally, such conditions for participation do not exist.

“Given the malicious actions they have carried out against Iran, they have forced two wars on us over eight or nine months and have killed and martyred thousands of our people. Therefore, we certainly cannot have such a presence.”

Donyamali’s comments came after the Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, reported that Donald Trump had said Iran were “welcome” to play at the upcoming World Cup, despite the ongoing war in the Middle East.

Infantino said that during a meeting with Trump to discuss preparations for the competition, “we also spoke about the current situation in Iran”. Infantino wrote on Instagram: “During the discussions, President Trump reiterated that the Iranian team is, of course, welcome to compete in the tournament in the United States.”

Last week Trump said “I really don’t care” whether Iran take part in the 48-nation tournament being co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico. Iran are scheduled to play group games against New Zealand and Belgium in Inglewood, California, and Egypt in Seattle. If the US and Iran finish second in their respective groups, they would meet on 3 July in Dallas.

Fifa’s World Cup regulations state that any team that withdraw “no later than 30 days before the first match” will be fined at least 250,000 Swiss francs (£239,000) by the Fifa disciplinary committee. “Disciplinary sanctions may include the expulsion of the participating member association concerned from subsequent Fifa competitions and/or the replacement of the participating member association with another member association,” Fifa’s regulations say.