Coach Graham Arnold challenged his players to "shock the world" after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico on Tuesday.

Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and will play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway.

Goals from Ali Al-Hamadi and Aymen Hussein secured a famous win for Iraq, whose last appearance at the World Cup came at Mexico in 1986.

April 1 (Reuters) - Dubai-based airline Emirates' website said on Wednesday that Iranian nationals were not allowed to enter or transit the United Arab Emirates.

The website of another carrier, Flydubai, said Iranian nationals holding a UAE "Golden Visa" were exempt and permitted to enter and transit the country.

The restrictions come amid heightened tensions between Iran and Gulf states.

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Jamie Freed)

By Alasdair Pal

SYDNEY, April 1 (Reuters) - Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will deliver a rare address to the nation on Wednesday about the war in the Middle East, with media reporting he will encourage Australians to conserve fuel.

The address will be broadcast simultaneously across major television and radio networks at 7 p.m. (0800 GMT). Similar addresses were made by previous prime ministers during the COVID pandemic and the 2008 global financial crisis.

JAKARTA, April 1 (Reuters) - Indonesia has called on the United Nations to conduct an investigation into the deaths of three of its UNIFIL peacekeepers following Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon, a foreign ministry official said in a statement published on Wednesday.

The ministry's U.N. representative, Umar Hadi, made the statement during an emergency meeting of the Security Council on Tuesday.

"We demand a direct investigation from the U.N., not just Israel's excuses," he said.

By Kanishka Singh and Ismail Shakil

WASHINGTON, March 31 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday Washington could see the "finish line" in the Iran war, which is now in its fifth week, and the United States will have to reexamine ties with NATO after the conflict.

"We can see the finish line. It's not today, it's not tomorrow, but it is coming," Rubio told Fox News Channel's "Hannity" show.

BUENOS AIRES, March 31 (Reuters) - Argentina has designated Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, its presidential office said in a statement on Tuesday, following a push from the Trump administration for allies to do so.

Argentina attributed the measure to the IRGC's backing for Lebanon-based Hezbollah, which it blames for the deadliest bombing in the South American nation's history, a 1994 attack on the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 and injured hundreds.

BEIRUT, April 1 (Reuters) - At least seven people were killed and 24 wounded in two Israeli strikes in the Beirut area, the Lebanese health ministry said on Wednesday, in attacks that hit vehicles in Beirut's southern outskirts and in an area just south of the capital.

WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM/CAIRO, April 1 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States could end its military attacks on Iran within two to three weeks and that Tehran did not have to make a deal as a prerequisite for the conflict winding down.

The remarks underscored the shifting and at times contradictory statements from Washington about how the war, now in its fifth week, might end.

"We'll be leaving very soon," Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday, saying the exit could take place "within two weeks, maybe two weeks, maybe three."

WASHINGTON, March 31 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the U.S. could end its military campaign against Iran within two to three weeks.

"We'll be leaving very soon," he told reporters in the White House's Oval Office, adding that the exit could take place "within two weeks, maybe two weeks, maybe three."

The declaration was Trump's clearest to date that he intends to soon end a month-long war that has reordered the Middle East, disrupted global energy markets and changed the trajectory of the Republican's presidency.

By Costas Pitas

March 31 (Reuters) - Two-thirds of Americans believe that the U.S. should work to end its involvement in the Iran war quickly, even if that means not achieving the goals set out by the Trump administration, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found.

Some 66% of respondents to the poll, conducted Friday through Sunday, voiced that view, while 27% said the U.S. should work to achieve all its goals in Iran, even if the conflict goes on for an extended period. Six percent did not answer the question.