"An outright and undeniable lie." That's how Iran's football federation responded on Sunday to claims from U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin that an individual with direct ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps tried to board the Iranian team's flight from Mexico to Los Angeles ahead of their World Cup match against Belgium.
Mullin told Fox News the man had only been inserted into the delegation since 2022 and was blocked from boarding. He didn't name him. Iran says no such incident ever happened — and went further, arguing that the very specificity of the allegation makes its falseness easier to prove.
"This claim is so unfounded that those who made it are well aware that such an incident never occurred in the first place," the federation said in a statement.
The visa dispute runs deeper than one incident
The boarding claim is just the sharpest edge of a wider conflict. Mullin said most World Cup delegations travel with around 120 people. The U.S. accepted 53 for Iran. The rest, he said, had "direct ties to the IRGC and aren't their normal traveling group." Eleven members of Iran's delegation have been denied visas entirely.
Iran's federation president, Mehdi Taj, is himself a former high-ranking IRGC intelligence officer — the IRGC being a U.S.-designated terrorist organisation. That context doesn't exactly simplify the diplomatic picture.
Coach Amir Ghalenoei was blunt after the team's opening match against New Zealand: "Our team is the most oppressed one in the whole World Cup." His side has been based in Mexico rather than the U.S., shuttling across the border for games, with no clear explanation given for restrictions on movement or length of stay.
"We were supposed to arrive two nights before the game and we were not permitted," he said. "We were supposed to stay tonight and return tomorrow lunchtime but I have no idea why, and they haven't told us."
Players trying to stay focused
After the 0-0 draw with Belgium, winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh kept it simple. He doesn't want to keep talking about the politics. He wants to get to Seattle ahead of schedule, adapt, and prepare for Egypt.
"We don't ask for much. We just ask for the same procedure as for all the other 47 teams," he said.
Iran's federation has signalled it will pursue a complaint against FIFA. Whether that goes anywhere is another matter — but as a tournament storyline, this one isn't going away. The political noise around Iran's matches affects everything from squad preparation to travel logistics to player welfare, and any team betting market involving Iran has to account for conditions no other side at this World Cup is dealing with.
Whatever the truth of the boarding incident, the federation's parting shot lands: "When a specific, verifiable, and individually targeted allegation is made and that allegation is fundamentally false, it naturally calls into question the credibility of the other accusations as well."
