The Iranian football team flew to Mexico on Saturday, where its base camp for the World Cup is located, but Iran denounced "discriminatory treatment" after the United States refused to issue visas to some members of the coaching staff.

The plane carrying the Iranian players took off for Mexico after a 15-day training camp in Antalya, Turkey, Iranian state television announced on Saturday, a few days before the start, on June 11, of the competition co-organized by the United States, Mexico and Canada.

The players must arrive in Tijuana, their base camp for the duration of the competition, after obtaining their visas for the United States where they are scheduled to play their first match on June 15.

"Why don't you say that visas have been refused to a large part of the management and leadership staff, technical advisors and other people who are an integral part of the national team?", the Iranian embassy in Turkey had previously protested on X, describing these refusals as "the highest level of intentional discriminatory treatment" against it.

She was responding to a statement the previous day by the US ambassador to Türkiye, Tom Barrack, announcing that the Iranian team had obtained their visas.

"The visas necessary for Iran's participation in the World Cup, including those for athletes and essential support staff, have been issued," added a US administration official on Saturday.

"We will not allow the Iranian team to abuse this system to smuggle terrorists into the United States under false pretenses," the official added, without elaborating.

According to Iranian state television, "15 members of the administrative and management team" are involved, including the federation's president Mehdi Taj, according to several media outlets in Tehran.

- Without a manager or press officer?

"Mr. Trump should answer this question: if the team manager and press officer are not present, who is supposed to attend the pre-match coordination meeting?" asked Amir Mahdi Alavi, spokesman for the Iranian Football Federation, in a televised interview, adding that a letter had been sent to FIFA.

He specified that the players, who received multiple-entry visas, will arrive in the United States one day before the first match, and two days before for the following matches.

Iran was one of the first countries to qualify for the World Cup, but its participation was called into question after the launch of Israeli-American strikes on the country on February 28.

Hostilities were interrupted by a ceasefire on April 8, which appears to be rapidly disintegrating after weeks of threats and a resumption, in recent days, of both American and Iranian strikes in the Gulf.

Just hours after confirming on Friday the granting of visas to Iranian footballers, the United States announced new bombings against Iran, which retaliated by targeting Gulf countries.

Uncertainties about obtaining visas forced the team to move its base camp from Tucson, Arizona to Tijuana, Mexico.

The team will be based in this northwestern border town for the duration of the tournament, but its three group stage matches are scheduled to take place in the United States.

Iran is due to play its first World Cup match on June 15 against New Zealand in Los Angeles before facing Belgium (on the 21st in Los Angeles) and Egypt (on the 26th in Seattle).

Before their departure on Saturday, Iran played a final preparation match against Mali in Antalya on Thursday, winning 2-0. The team had played their first match on May 29, beating Gambia 3-1.

AFP