US government monitors Iranian delegation at the World Cup with an eye on Revolutionary Guard infiltrators, says Rubio

Marco Rubio participates in a U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Trump's fiscal year 2027 State Department budget proposal on Capitol Hill
REUTERS/Kylie Cooper
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers on Tuesday that the United States will not allow Iranians with ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to infiltrate the country's delegation to participate in the 2026 World Cup, which starts this month.
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The Iranian team will play matches in the United States, but will be based in Mexico during the tournament.
Despite the war that the US and Israel launched against Iran at the end of February, Rubio stated that Washington has "no problem" with the entry of the Iranian team and its coaching staff into the country.
"What's not What we're going to allow is for them to incorporate into the delegation a group of people who we know have no relationship with athletics and who have ties to the IRGC or things like that. Therefore, we're going to monitor this very closely," Rubio said in a hearing at the House of Representatives Committee. Americans for two former members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Both Iranian striker Mehdi Taremi and defender Ehsan Hajsafi have already had to do military service in the IRGC.
Taremi, who is seen as the Iranian national team's main hope for goals, served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy in Bushehr, his hometown, between 2010 and 2012.
Military service is mandatory in Iran. Football players born in the country, however, can join military-affiliated teams through sports exemptions, such as Malavan Anzali and Fajr Sepasi. Taremi and Hajsafi, however, followed a different path.
The military service carried out outside the protected environment of clubs linked to the Armed Forces started to threaten their participation in the World Cup.
This happens because the US State Department imposes strict restrictions on individuals with links to organizations classified by the country as foreign terrorists. The list includes the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
"All players and members of the coaching staff, especially those who did military service in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or IRGC, such as Mehdi Taremi and Ehsan Hajsafi, should receive visas without any problem," said the president of the Iranian federation, Mehdi Taj.
*With information from Reuters.
Iran's national team.
Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency)

Source: G1