Iran ambassador hits out at ‘country to the north’ in US World Cup visa row

Iran’s football team still lacks US visas and is not competing on ‘equal terms’, Tehran’s envoy to Mexico says.Iran’s football team still lacks US visas and is not competing in the World Cup on “equal terms” because of its difficulty in training ahead of the tournament, Tehran’s ambassador to Mexico said on Thursday.Abolfazl Pasandideh visited the northwestern Mexican border city of Tijuana, where Iranians have relocated their training camp. They were originally planned to be based in Tucson in the US state of Arizona.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Ireland and Qatar halted twice by protests against upcoming Israel fixtureslist 2 of 4PSG defend Champions League title against Arsenal: 10 things to knowlist 3 of 4‘Don’t believe in paying athletes’: IOC’s Coventry stirs social media stormlist 4 of 4Scotland fans book 20 school buses for games at ‘inaccessible’ US World Cupend of listThe ambassador told a news conference that “the country to the north” – meaning the United States – had not followed through on its responsibility of hosting the Iranian team.“We don’t know whether or not they’re going to give the players their visas,” he added.Iran will play their three World Cup group games in two West Coast US cities: Los Angeles and Seattle. The head of the Iranian Football Federation has said there was hope that the players would be granted multiple entry visas.“We aren’t participating in the World Cup on equal terms,” Pasandideh said.“We haven’t been able to train our team like they should,” he said, because of the US-Israel war on his country that began on February 28.On Wednesday, Iranian diplomats visited the stadium where the team is training, a source from Club Tijuana that plays there told the news agency AFP. The diplomats also met with local security officials, the source said.Iran are due to play in Los Angeles on June 15 against New Zealand, and on June 21, against Belgium. They then play in Seattle against Egypt on June 26.