Markwayne Mullin accuses “almost half” of Iran’s delegation of having direct links to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
The US home defence chief has said he was “so happy” that Iran has been eliminated from the World Cup, after all the tensions and complaints from the team over their treatment during the tournament.
Iran’s place at the competition had been in doubt after the US and Israel attacked the country in February. The team eventually travelled to the tournament but failed to reach the last 32 after drawing all three group matches. They had some hope of progressing but that ended when their late goal against Egypt was ruled out for a marginal offside.
During a briefing on security at the World Cup, US secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin accused “almost half” of Iran’s delegation of having direct links to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and said he was “just glad they’re done, and they’re not coming back”.
“I was so happy when we were able to pull their visas and said they could leave the U.S. soil, and I might’ve sung a song or two or maybe even danced a happy dance,” Mullin added.
Iran’s football federation made several complaints during the tournament over the treatment of the squad by US authorities. Head coach Amir Ghalenoei said his team had been the “most oppressed” at the World Cup.
Iran had originally planned to base themselves in Tucson, Arizona, but instead were forced to move their training camp to Tijuana in Mexico before the tournament. All three of their matches were played in the US, in Los Angeles and Seattle, and they could only go there a day before, except for their last game, when they were allowed two days.
But another complaint from the team was also that they had to leave immediately after each match, which left them no time at all for recovery. Mullin said the arrangement had been agreed before the tournament.
“That was just an agreement we had — to just go ahead and let them go,” said Mullin. “The game was over, let them get back to the hotel, their base camp where they’re at. They’re more comfortable there. That was just an agreement we worked out with Fifa before the games started.”
