US will monitor Iran's World Cup delegation, says Marco Rubio

The Secretary of State of the United States, Marco Rubio, told parliamentarians this Tuesday that the country will not allow Iranian citizens with links to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to infiltrate the delegation that will participate in the football World Cup, which starts this month.

Although Iran's national team has matches scheduled in the United States, the team will have Mexico as its training base during the world tournament.

The declaration comes at a time of extreme geopolitical tension. Even in the face of the war started at the end of February by the United States and Israel against Iran, Rubio assured that Washington "has no problems" in authorizing the entry of the Iranian football team and its coaching staff into the country.

"What we will not allow is for them to infiltrate their delegation with a group of people who we know have nothing to do with the sport and have ties to the Revolutionary Guard or things of that nature. Therefore, we will monitor this very closely," Rubio declared during a hearing in a committee of the Chamber of Representatives (equivalent to the Chamber of Deputies in Brazil).

Iran will host in Mexico
The president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, stated last Monday (25) that her government has agreed to allow the Iranian national football team to stay in Mexico during the World Cup, adding that the United States did not want to host the team.

Sheinbaum said that FIFA approached the Mexican government after the US informed them that they did not want the Iranian team to remain in the country for the entire tournament, despite the Iranians playing all three group stage matches there.

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Source: CNN