Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Sunday that an individual with ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attempted to enter the United States with the Iranian soccer team during the World Cup.
“When we started doing the research on him, he had only been put in place since 2022, and we didn’t allow him to board the plane,” Mullin told Fox News on Sunday, referring to the individual who had ties with the IRGC.
“The guy trying to get on the plane yesterday had direct ties to IRGC.”
Mullin said that the Iranian official who attempted to enter the United States was, according to Tehran, the president of the country’s soccer federation, noting that the Iranian soccer team playing World Cup games is based in Tijuana, Mexico. The team flies from Mexico into the United States when they need to play games.
The IRGC, for years, has been considered a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. government, which has said the IRGC has been a backer of terrorism around the world. The military organization has launched a number of attacks on U.S. military assets in the Middle East since the start of hostilities between Tehran and the United States earlier this year.
Mullin also said he has engaged in “multiple conversations” with FIFA President Gianni Infantino on the matter. However, he did not elaborate on what they discussed.
A statement released by the Iranian soccer federation denied Mullin’s comment, claiming that the individual denied entry has no ties to the IRGC.
“Attempting to insinuate goals other than fulfilling the professional and official responsibilities of these individuals is a false claim and lacks any basis or valid documentation,” it said.
The Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran added that it “emphasizes that the members of the national team convoy have no interest or motivation to personally be present in the law-breaking country of the United States of America, and all efforts made to obtain visas have been made solely with the aim of accompanying the Iranian national football team and performing duties within the framework of the World Cup competitions,” according to a translated statement.
Separately, Mullin said in the Fox interview that there has been an influx of Iranian nationals with ties to the IRGC trying to enter the United States through the northern border with Canada.
Last week, the Iranian team’s coach said the team was ordered to leave the United States and return to its training base in Mexico only a few hours after its opening game against New Zealand.
“They didn’t even give us time to recover,” the coach, Amir Ghalenoei, said through an interpreter.
“After the game today, they said to us, ‘You have to leave immediately.’ It’s very important for us to have time for recovery, [but] we are asked to get on a plane and return to our camp in Tijuana, and we are really troubled by that.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
