After days of doubts, the national team of the Islamic Republic, in conflict with the United States, got the green light. The retreat location will be in Mexico, he will enter the States the day before the races and then return to base
Iran, an enemy at war, will enter American soil and will be able to play in the World Cup. It wasn’t a given in a Cup immersed in geopolitical tensions like never before, but the OK from the US authorities was the last step necessary to extinguish the speculation. In detail, yesterday the Iranian national team obtained the necessary visas to enter the States, putting an end to a phase of strong uncertainty that had initially fueled doubts about Team Melli’s presence at the tournament. The confirmation came from a White House official, quoted by the Reuters agency: the entry permits were issued almost ten days after the debut in the competition. The Iranians had, however, already received the last visas to enter Mexico and planned to move over the weekend to Tijuana, on the border with California: there is, in fact, the emergency headquarters where the World Cup will be prepared, the one that has taken the place of the original base in Arizona, in Tucson, due to the military escalation between the two countries.
the scenario
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The Iranian national team has just beaten Mali in a friendly 2-0, but still had to play behind closed doors for security reasons. Now for Taremi and his associates the possibility of traveling safely is a sign of regained normality after weeks in the blender: the evident tension was, however, placed within a particularly restrictive regulatory framework. Since January 2026, Washington has introduced new limitations on the issuance of visas for citizens of numerous countries, including Iran, with specific exceptions assessed on a case-by-case basis: the US authorities have repeatedly reiterated that the measures are motivated by national security reasons and, for this reason, the requests for the Iranian delegation had been put on stand-by. From Tijuana, now, the Iranians will be able to move to the enemy’s land only for the eves and for the group matches, immediately returning back to the Mexican base. In detail, Team Melli will play at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on the night between 15th and 16th June (3am Italian time) against New Zealand and on 21st June (9pm) against Belgium, then on the night between 26th and 27th against Egypt at Lumen Field in Seattle (5am).
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