Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Sunday said a man with “direct ties” to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps attempted to enter the United States with the Iranian soccer team traveling to the U.S. for the World Cup.
Speaking on Fox News’s Sunday Morning Futures, Mullin said someone under the guise of being the soccer federation president tried to enter the U.S. with Iran’s soccer team but was not allowed to board the plane on Saturday.
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“When we started doing the research on him, he had only been put in place since 2022, and we didn’t allow him to board the plane,” Mullin said of the incident. “The guy trying to get on the plane yesterday had direct ties to IRGC.”
Iran’s soccer team is based in Tijuana, Mexico, and is permitted to travel to the U.S. the day before its scheduled World Cup matches. The country’s soccer federation had wanted its team to fly in two days before its group match against Belgium in Los Angeles on Sunday, but the group said the request was turned down despite submitting its preparation schedule for the tournament in advance.
Due to travel restrictions that also require the team to leave the evening after matches, Iran’s soccer team has filed a complaint to FIFA, arguing the restrictions don’t allow players to adapt to the city’s environment.
Mullin said he has had “multiple conversations” with FIFA President Gianni Infantino about the Iran travel restrictions, but did not elaborate on what was discussed.
IRANIAN WORLD CUP TEAM TO FILE COMPLAINT OVER US TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS
The travel restrictions are the result of the U.S.-Iran war, which is now at a halt after both sides signed a memorandum of understanding to end the fighting and are engaging in peace negotiations in Switzerland on Sunday. The State Department has vowed to bar anyone with direct ties to the IRGC from entering the country.
The Iranian soccer team is set to travel to Seattle for its match against Egypt later this week.
