TEHRAN, 15 May. - (ANA) - Iran's football federation chief said on Thursday that no visas had yet been issued for the national team to participate in the 2026 World Cup in the United States, state media reported.

 

"Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, we will have a decisive meeting with FIFA. They must give us guarantees, because the visa issue has still not been resolved," the state news agency IRNA quoted federation chief Mehdi Taj as saying.

 

"We have not received any account from the other side regarding who has been granted visas. No visas have been issued yet," he added.

 

According to Taj, the players were expected to travel to the Turkish capital Ankara for fingerprinting as part of the visa process.

 

"The players must travel to Ankara for fingerprinting, but we are trying to arrange for this to be done in Antalya so there will be no need to travel to Ankara," he said.   

 

Iran has been at war with the United States and Israel since February 28, though a fragile ceasefire has been in place since April 8.

 

Iran's deputy foreign minister, meanwhile, said that a "host country cannot use political disputes, sanctions or its own unilateral domestic policy decisions" to prevent a team from attending the World Cup.

 

"If the organising body cannot guarantee that all qualified teams, including Iran, can enter the host country without discrimination or restriction... the credibility of the World Cup itself will be undermined," Kazem Gharibabadi wrote on X.   - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/15 May 2026 - - -