WASHINGTON, D.C. -- With Iran officially eliminated from the FIFA World Cup, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin defended the administration’s treatment of the team during the group stage and said he was “so glad they’re gone.”
Iranian soccer officials complained before and during the World Cup that restrictions imposed by the U.S. government amid the ongoing military conflict between the countries placed the team at a competitive disadvantage. Those restrictions included requiring Iran to move its base camp from Tucson, Ariz., to Tijuana, Mexico; allowing the team to enter the U.S. only one day before its matches; and requiring it to return to Tijuana immediately afterward.
Mullin expressed little sympathy for the Iranian team on Monday. During a World Cup security briefing at the government’s Special Event Coordination Center, he told interagency personnel that he was “very happy they’re going back because there wasn’t a single team that we dealt with more than them.” Speaking to a small group of reporters afterward, he expanded on that sentiment.
“I’m just glad they’re done, and they’re not coming back,” Mullin said. “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 denied that Iran’s team had anything to complain about, citing the proximity of its base camp in Tijuana to its first two matches in L.A. and its ability to arrive and train in the U.S. the day before each match. He also said Customs and Border Protection officers screened the players before boarding their plane in Tijuana to mitigate their concerns about being harassed while going through U.S. customs.
Asked whether there was a specific security utility for requiring Iran to depart immediately after matches, Mullin did not identify one.
“That was just an agreement we had -- to just go ahead and let them go,” Mullin said. “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.”
Mullin also reiterated allegations that “almost half” of Iran’s proposed World Cup traveling party had direct ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including two proposed media members who were connected to IRGC intelligence and one proposed traveler who was wanted on international warrants and unable to enter Canada. The Iranian federation has previously called Mullin’s claims “completely unsupported by any evidence.”
