Markwayne Mullin Says IRGC-Linked Man Tried To Enter U.S. With Iranian Soccer Team

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said a man with “direct ties” to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps attempted to enter the United States with the Iranian soccer team traveling to the U.S. for the World Cup, but was not allowed to board the plane on Saturday.

““We want to win, but we hate the Islamic Republic,” the dilemma facing some Iranian soccer fans”

BBC

Mullin told Fox News’s Sunday Morning Futures that “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,” and he said the “guy trying to get on the plane yesterday had direct ties to IRGC.”

BBC

The Washington Examiner reported the Iranian soccer team is based in Tijuana, Mexico, and is permitted to travel to the U.S. the day before its scheduled World Cup matches.

Mullin said he has had “multiple conversations” with FIFA President Gianni Infantino about the Iran travel restrictions, and the State Department has vowed to bar anyone with direct ties to the IRGC from entering the country.

Iran’s football federation (FFIRI) rejected the U.S. claim, saying the allegation that someone tied to the IRGC tried to board the team flight is “fabricated and entirely baseless allegations.”

In a statement, the FFIRI’s president Mehdi Taj said the “claim that an official representative of the Iranian football federation attempted to board a flight to enter the United States yesterday and was prevented from doing so is an outright and undeniable lie.”

South China Morning Post

The BBC described how World Cup fever is sweeping Iranian diaspora communities, where some fans say, “We want to win, but we hate the Islamic Republic,” and others struggle with whether supporting Team Meli means backing the Revolutionary Guards.

The BBC also reported that FIFA regarded the “Lion and Sun” flag as a political symbol and banned its entry into World Cup stadiums, even as some fans managed to bring it into the stands during Iran’s opening match against New Zealand on June 16.

The BBC said the World Cup dilemma for some Iranian fans is intensified by the fact that most matches are being played in a country that declared war on Iran in February 2026, with the ink on the new agreement that ended the fighting “not yet dried.”

“Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Sunday said a man with “direct ties” to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps attempted to enter the United States with the Iranian soccer team traveling to the U”

Washington Examiner

The BBC reported that striker Mehdi Taremi told reporters, “We are playing for Iranians around the world,” while the federation’s June 19, 2026 statement said it would file an official complaint with FIFA over travel restrictions that force the team to travel to the United States just one day before any match and to depart on the day of the match.

The Washington Examiner said the travel restrictions are the result of the U.S.-Iran war, which is now at a halt after both sides signed a memorandum of understanding to end the fighting and are engaging in peace negotiations in Switzerland on Sunday.

In the same BBC account, an American woman of Iranian descent living in Los Angeles said, ‘We want to watch our team and want it to win, but at the same time we despise the Islamic Republic of Iran and its government and its oppressive policies,’ underscoring how the dispute over Team Meli’s symbolism and access is playing out alongside the tournament schedule.