Iran World Cup players get US visas, official says, some staff waiting

Highlights:

• Iran players get visas 10 days before their opening match
• Some staff have not got visas, Iran news agency says
• Squad have moved base from Arizona to Tijuana in Mexico
• Iranian team face New Zealand in Los Angeles on 15 June

Iran's World Cup football players have received visas to enter the United States, a US official said days before their first match, but Iranian media said on Saturday that some administrative staff had not got their visas.

The White House official told Reuters on Friday, 10 days before Iran play in Los Angeles, that the players had received their visas, after Iran's ambassador to Mexico, Abolfazl Pasandideh, said on Thursday that they had not received them.

First World Cup with hosts receiving war adversary

Iran's semi-official news agency Tasnim reported that those who had not received visas included Executive Director Mehdi Kharati, the secretary general of the football federation, Hedayat Mombini, and Media Director Mohsen Motamedkia.

Staff members without visas would travel to Mexico with the team while efforts to obtain visas continue, the agency said.

Iran's football federation said the behaviour of co-hosts the US "contradicts international sports laws" and it would take up the matter with football's world governing body FIFA.

"The US government, continuing its hostile actions against the national team ... made a non-sporting and completely political decision to refuse visas for key managerial and administrative members of the Iranian national football team," it said in a statement reported by Iran's state media.

"This issue will definitely be pursued by the Football Federation through FIFA.

"As the responsible body, (FIFA) has the duty to follow up and finalise the visas for the managerial, executive, technical, and support staff of the Iranian national team who are currently in camp and whom the national team urgently needs."

FIFA was not immediately available for comment outside business hours in the US.

Geopolitical contest

The US, Mexico and Canada are co-hosting the biggest global sporting event, which starts on Wednesday.

The war on Iran, launched by the US and Israel in February, has turned the World Cup into a geopolitical contest, with both sides appearing to use the tournament for political posturing.

This 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.

Tehran negotiated a last-minute move of the team's base from Arizona to Tijuana, 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.

They are scheduled to land in Tijuana early on Sunday.

Iran are due to play their first Group G match on 15 June against New Zealand in Los Angeles, where they will also face Belgium before taking on Egypt in Seattle.

Rubio says US to bar people linked to Revolutionary Guards

The US never formally said it did not want the Iran team to stay on its territory, Ambassador Pasandideh said.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, however, told lawmakers on Tuesday that the US would not allow Iran to include in its delegation people linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a powerful branch of the Iranian armed forces.

Mehdi Taj, president of Iran's football federation, 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 underscored 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 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 towards an interim agreement even as they continue to carry out military strikes.