The Iran Football Federation has accused the United States of “vindictive behaviour” regarding the refusal of visas for managerial and administrative members of its World Cup travelling party.
IFF said 14 officials had been refused visas prior to upcoming matches in California and Seattle. The list includes the federation's vice president Mehdi Mohammad Nabi and secretary-general Hedayat Mombeini.
It wasn't immediately known whether federation president Mehdi Taj was issued a visa. Tensions have been high between the United States and Iran since the war in Iran broke out in February.
The Iran squad has been preparing for the World Cup in Antalya, Turkey, and was set to fly to Mexico on Saturday. The players received visas from the Mexico Embassy in Antalya.
In a post on X, the US ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack, said he was proud of the US embassy in Ankara, which processed the visas.
“Sports transcends borders, and we look forward to welcoming competitors and fans from around the world,” he wrote.
Tensions led to Iran moving their training camp to Tijuana, Mexico. The city is just across the US border from San Diego.
According to the IFF, denying support staff visas has “effectively denied the Iranian national team the opportunity for a level playing field and a competition free from discrimination.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier this week that the Iranian travelling party would be watched closely for people with ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“We have no problem with the athletes, as we stated earlier, or their support staff,” Rubio said. “But what we're not going to allow is for them to embed in their delegation a bunch of people that we know have nothing to do with athletics and have ties to the IRGC or things of that nature.
“So we were going to watch that very closely, and we'll continue to watch that very closely.”
Iran play World Cup games against New Zealand on June 15 and Belgium on June 21 in Inglewood. The team finishes the group five days later in Seattle against Egypt.
The United States and Iran could face each other on July 3 in Arlington, Texas, if the two teams both finish second in their respective groups.
