Overview
- Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Sunday that officials stopped a man with alleged direct ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from boarding a flight from Tijuana to Los Angeles after he claimed to be part of Iran’s team delegation.
- Mullin told reporters the United States admitted 53 members of Iran’s delegation and refused additional people after vetting flagged alleged IRGC links, and separate reporting indicates around eleven delegation members were denied U.S. visas.
- Iran’s Football Federation rejected Mullin’s specific allegation as fabricated and has filed a formal complaint with FIFA over U.S. travel restrictions on the team.
- Because of U.S. rules the Iranian squad is based in Tijuana and allowed brief day-before and night-after access for matches, a setup the team’s coach says disrupts preparation and player recovery.
- The action follows a State Department policy to bar anyone with direct IRGC ties, and officials say recent arrests of Iranian nationals crossing the U.S.–Canada border have risen with Canadian cooperation as diplomatic talks in Switzerland continue.