Iran players receive US World Cup visas, some staff still waiting

WASHINGTON: Iran’s World Cup players have been issued visas to enter the United States ahead of their opening match, a US official told Reuters, although Iranian media reported on Saturday that several administrative staff members had yet to receive clearance.

The White House official said on Friday, 10 days before Iran’s first game in Los Angeles, that the players had obtained their visas. The development followed comments a day earlier by Iran’s ambassador to Mexico, Abolfazl Pasandideh, who had said the squad had not yet received them.

A spokesman for Iran’s World Cup federation could not immediately be reached for comment.

Some officials still awaiting clearance

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that those still without visas included Executive Director Mehdi Kharati, soccer federation secretary general Hedayat Mombini and Media Director Mohsen Motamedkia.

Tasnim said the staff members who had not secured visas would travel with the team to Mexico while attempts to obtain the documents continued.

The United States, Mexico and Canada are co-hosting the World Cup, which begins on Wednesday. The ongoing war involving Iran, the United States and Israel has added a political dimension to the tournament. It described this as the first World Cup since the competition began in 1930 in which a host country is preparing to receive a nation with which it is at war.

Base shifted to Tijuana

Tehran negotiated a late change to move the team’s base from Arizona to Tijuana in Mexico, citing visa complications and an increasing view in Iran that the squad should limit its time inside the United States.

The team is due to arrive in Tijuana early on Sunday. Iran will open its Group G campaign against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15. It is also scheduled to face Belgium in Los Angeles before playing Egypt in Seattle.

Rubio stance on IRGC-linked individuals

Ambassador Pasandideh said the United States had never formally stated that it opposed the Iran team staying on American soil. However, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers on Tuesday that Washington would not permit members of Iran’s delegation who are linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to enter the country.

Mehdi Taj, the president of Iran’s soccer federation, had already been denied entry for the tournament draw in Washington in December. Taj is a former commander in the Revolutionary Guards.

Pasandideh said Iran’s participation in the competition reflected its broader effort to seek an end to the conflict with Washington. He made the remarks through a Spanish interpreter at the Iranian embassy in Mexico City.

"Iran's participation in the World Cup - even on the soil of what is seen as its enemy - shows that Iran seeks peace,"

Progress in peace talks between Iran and the United States has remained slow, with both sides appearing to move gradually toward an interim agreement while military strikes continue.