The Iran national football team traveled to Mexico on Saturday, May 27, from their training camp in Antalya, Turkey, to Tijuana, a city that will serve as their training base ahead of the 2026 World Cup. The trip took place amid reports that several officials and members of the Islamic Republic's football federation have not yet received US visas. According to the Associated Press, Hediat Membin, the secretary-general of the football federation, and Mehdi Mohammadi, the deputy head of the federation, are among those who have not received US visas, according to Iranian state television. Earlier, The New York Times reported that the US had not issued visas to Mehdi Taj and several other officials of the Islamic Republic's football federation, while American sources say all Iranian national team players have received permission to enter the US for the 2026 World Cup. Mehdi Taj has a background in the Revolutionary Guards, an entity that is on the US terrorist list. On Friday, the White House told the Voice of America that the US will not allow the Islamic Republic to 'abuse' the World Cup to carry out terrorist activities. A US government official responded to the Voice of America's question about issuing visas for the Iranian football team, saying, 'The necessary visas for Iran's participation in the World Cup, including for athletes and necessary support staff, have been issued.' However, he emphasized that 'we will not allow' the team 'to abuse this system and secretly bring terrorists into the United States with false pretenses.' The Iranian national team was initially supposed to hold part of its training camp in the state of Arizona, but due to delays and uncertainties in the visa issuance process, the team's training base was moved to Tijuana, Mexico. This city is located near the US border, and the Iranian team will have to travel from Mexico to US host cities for their group stage matches. According to the official tournament schedule, Iran is grouped with New Zealand, Belgium, and Egypt in Group G of the 2026 World Cup. Iran's first match is against New Zealand on June 15 at the Los Angeles stadium. The second match against Belgium will also be held in Los Angeles on June 21, and the third match against Egypt will take place in Seattle on June 25. Los Angeles witnessed widespread protests by Iranians against the Iranian government after the killing of protesters by Iranian security forces in December 2022. The 2026 World Cup will be held jointly in the US, Mexico, and Canada. The Iranian national team's participation in the tournament takes place amid intense political and military tensions between the Islamic Republic and the US.