Tehran has protested to Washington because of the travel ban on its football team delegation as well as Iranian fans who would like to travel to the United States for the upcoming World Cup matches in 2026.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry announced it has protested against the move by the U.S. administration to deny visas to football federation officials and support members of Iran’s team plus the Iranians interested in watching their national team’s matches next year in the United States.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei told a weekly press conference on Sunday that Iran had expressed its protest to the U.S. banning members of the Iranian delegates to participate in the FIFA final draw event.
“We have expressed our protest against the U.S.'s refusal to issue visas to members of the Iranian delegation to participate in the draw ceremony, and we expect that this matter, which is completely legal and logical, will be respected by FIFA, as the organizing body and guardian of the international community.”
The Iranian Football Federation had vowed it would boycott the World Cup draw because visas had not been issued by the U.S. government to all members of its delegation, including the federation’s president.
However, it reversed the plans to boycott the event on Friday and sent a delegation to the United States.
In FIFA World Cup 2026, Iran squad will face Belgium, Egypt and New Zealand after being drawn into Group G at the next year’s tournament.
Since June, Iranian citizens have been under a ban imposed by President Donald Trump’s administration not to travel to the United States.
Baghaei reiterated that as the host country, the US is required by FIFA regulations to provide the necessary conditions for the presence of participating teams, coaches, and all relevant delegation members.
“This is an international obligation that must be accepted by a country when it is awarded the hosting status. Violation of this obligation entails international responsibility for the United States,” the Iranian diplomat added.
Tehran and Washington cut their friendly and strategic relations in the wake of the 1979 Islamic Revolution which ousted the pro-west shah monarchy.
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