Iran’s World Cup players have secured visas to enter the United States, a US official has confirmed, though reports from Iranian media indicate some staff are still awaiting theirs.
A White House official said on Friday that the players had received their visas, just days before their Los Angeles match. This followed a statement on Thursday from Iran’s ambassador to Mexico, Abolfazl Pasandideh, who had claimed the documents were outstanding.
Iran’s semi-official news agency Tasnim reported that those who had not received visas included Executive Director Mehdi Kharati, the secretary general of the football federation, Hedayat Mombini, and Media Director Mohsen Motamedkia.
The agency indicated that staff members lacking visas would travel to Mexico with the team while efforts to secure their entry continue.
Iran’s football federation said the behaviour of co-hosts the US “contradicts international sports laws” and it would take up the matter with football’s world governing body FIFA.
“The US government, continuing its hostile actions against the national team … made a non-sporting and completely political decision to refuse visas for key managerial and administrative members of the Iranian national football team,” it said in a statement reported by Iran’s state media.
“This issue will definitely be pursued by the Football Federation through FIFA.
“As the responsible body, (FIFA) has the duty to follow up and finalise the visas for the managerial, executive, technical, and support staff of the Iranian national team who are currently in camp and whom the national team urgently needs.”
FIFA was not immediately available for comment outside business hours in the US
The US, Mexico and Canada are co-hosting the biggest global sporting event, which starts on Wednesday.
The war on Iran, launched by the US and Israel in February, has turned the World Cup into a geopolitical contest, with both sides appearing to use the tournament for political posturing.
This is the first World Cup since its inception in 1930 in which a host nation is set to receive a country it is at war with.
Tehran negotiated a last-minute move of the team’s base from Arizona to Tijuana, Mexico, due to the visa issues and a growing feeling in Iran that the squad’s presence in the United States should be kept to a minimum.
They are scheduled to land in Tijuana early on Sunday.
Iran are due to play their first Group G match on June 15 against New Zealand in Los Angeles, where they will also face Belgium before taking on Egypt in Seattle.
The US never formally said it did not want the Iran team to stay on its territory, Ambassador Pasandideh said.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, however, told lawmakers on Tuesday that the US would not allow Iran to include in its delegation people linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a powerful branch of the Iranian armed forces.
Mehdi Taj, president of Iran’s football federation, was denied entry for the tournament draw in Washington in December. He is a former commander in the Revolutionary Guards.
Iran’s desire to compete in the World Cup underscored its efforts to reach a resolution in the war with Washington, Pasandideh said.
“Iran’s participation in the World Cup – even on the soil of what is seen as its enemy – shows that Iran seeks peace,” Pasandideh said through a Spanish interpreter at the Iranian embassy in Mexico City.
Progress in peace talks between Iran and the US has been slow, with both sides seemingly inching toward an interim agreement even as they continue to carry out military strike
