Iran World Cup players granted visas to enter the US, official says
Players on Iran's World Cup soccer team have received visas that will allow them to enter and compete in the United States, a U.S. official confirmed.
However, a "large portion" of the team's support staff were denied visas just days before the competition began, the Iranian Embassy in Turkey said Saturday.
The embassy's account on X posted, "Why do you not say that visas were denied to a large portion of the managerial and executive staff, technical advisers, and others who are an integral part of any national football team?" replying to a post from the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack.
Barrack's post had praised the work of the staff of the U.S. Embassy in Ankara for processing the visas for the Iranian team.
"By extending your whimsical hostilities against the Iranian nation into the realm of sport, the U.S. government in practice is depriving Iran’s national team of its right to play in the World Cup under normal conditions and without undue pressure and stress," the Iranian embassy said.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio had indicated that the Trump administration had "no problem" with providing visas to Iran's team during his testimony on Capitol Hill earlier this week — but he said the administration would not allow the regime to use the event to bring in IRGC-affiliates.
"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," he said.
Barrack posted on X Friday that he was "proud of our outstanding team at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara for their work processing visas for Iran's national football team on their road to the @FIFAWorldCup in the United States."
"Sports transcends borders, and we look forward to welcoming competitors and fans from around the world," he said, reposting a story from Al Jazeera stating the Iranian team had been issued visas.
The Iranian team will play matches in the U.S. but is expected to lodge in Mexico due in part to complications related to U.S.-imposed sanctions.
The team is scheduled to arrive in Tijuana, Mexico, on Sunday and will take on New Zealand on June 15 in Los Angeles.
Iran's sports minister had said in March the nation's team would not participate in the global sporting event amid the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. A ceasefire has been in place since April 7.
The president of Iran’s Football Federation Mehdi Taj later said the Iranian national team has qualified to participate in the World Cup and that it was their right to take part.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino confirmed in April that Iran would play in the tournament, including in the U.S.
-ABC News' Tom Soufi-Burridge contributed to this report.
