A U.S. official confirmed to ABC News on Friday that the players on Iran‘s World Cup soccer team have received visas that will allow them to enter and compete in the United States.
Iran applied for its visas at the U.S. embassy in Turkey, where it has been preparing for the World Cup with a training camp in Antalya.
U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack appeared to confirm the visa approvals on Friday in a post on X.
“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 FIFA World Cup in the United States,” he said.
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“Sports transcends borders, and we look forward to welcoming competitors and fans from around the world.”
A U.S. official told the Associated Press that visas had been issued for players, coaches, trainers and some support staff. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the visas publicly.
The official could not say if any Iranian applicants had been denied. It was not immediately clear when the Iranian team’s passports would be returned to them to allow them to travel, but the official said it could be as early as Friday or Saturday.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that the Iranian delegation would be monitored closely for anyone with ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
“We have no problem with the athletes, as we stated earlier, or their support staff,” Rubio said during a House Appropriations Subcommittee hearing. “But 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, and we’ll continue to watch that very closely, but by and large, I don’t anticipate that problem with any other country.”
Iran will play two of its World Cup group-stage matches in Inglewood, California, versus New Zealand on June 15, and then against Belgium six days later. Iran’s third match will take place on June 26 when they face Egypt in Seattle.
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Iran’s training base, originally set for Tucson, Arizona, was moved to Tijuana, Mexico, at the request of its football federation due to security concerns. The team received visas for Mexico earlier this week and are set to travel to the country this weekend.
Mexico is co-hosting the World Cup along with the U.S. and Canada.
Iran’s participation in the World Cup has been in doubt ever since the U.S. and Israel launched joint attacks against Iran in late February. Despite reports of a possible peace proposal, the hostilities have continued. FIFA has long insisted that Iran would fully participate in the tournament.
President Donald Trump in March had discouraged Iran from participating in the tournament, saying he didn’t think it was “appropriate” and raising concerns over players’ “life and safety.” A day later, Iran’s national team pushed back, saying “no one can exclude” it from playing.
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Iran finalized its team Monday, including 17 home-based players whose clubs have not played since February because of the war.
The issue of visas has been especially fraught for the Iran team. In April, Iran football federation chief Mehdi Taj had his visa to enter Canada canceled due to his prior affiliation with Iran’s Islamic Republican Revolutionary Guards, which has been classified as a terrorist organization by both Canada and the U.S.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
