Iran’s World Cup football players have been granted visas to enter the United States, a White House official told Reuters on Friday, just 10 days before their first match in Los Angeles amid a conflict between the two countries.
The head of Iran's Football Federation, Mehdi Taj, said earlier on Friday that the team had handed their passports to the US embassy in Turkiye for visas, AFP reported.
Iran’s ambassador to Mexico, Abolfazl Pasandideh, said late on Thursday the squad had still not received their US visas but these were granted overnight, the White House official said.
Taj said that after discussions with FIFA “we were told to submit all passports to the US embassy in Ankara.”
“We are waiting to see what happens today or, at the latest, tomorrow, because our national team needs to receive these passports and travel with them to Tijuana,” Taj said.
The Iranian team is due to fly from Turkiye to Spain on Saturday before traveling on to their base camp in Mexico, which has issued visas to the squad.
Taj said the Iranian Football Federation said had “raised certain points and requests, in such a way that FIFA was told that if they (the Americans) do not issue visas for the players, some members of our technical staff, and other sections of our delegation, we may make other decisions.”
“My assessment is that all visas will be issued in full, and there most likely will not be any problem in this regard,” he added.
Tehran negotiated a last-minute move of the team’s base from Arizona to Tijuana in 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.
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.
Geopolitical contest
The Iran war has turned the World Cup – the biggest global sporting event – into a geopolitical contest, with both sides appearing to use the tournament for political posturing.
It 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.
The US has never formally said it did not want the Iran team to stay on its territory, ambassador Pasandideh said.
However, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers on Tuesday the US would not allow Iran to include in its World Cup delegation individuals linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, a powerful branch of the Iranian armed forces.
That could apply to several players in the Iran squad who have completed mandatory military service with the group.
Taj, 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 underscores 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, speaking 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 strikes.
