Iran on Saturday slammed World Cup host the United States over what it called “discriminatory treatment” in not granting visas for some members of the Iranian delegation to the tournament.

“Why do you not say that visas were denied to a large portion of the managerial and executive staff, technical advisers, and others who are an integral part of any national football team?” the Iranian embassy in Turkey said in a post on X, referring to an earlier announcement by US envoy Tom Barrack that visas had been granted to players.

“You have now escalated the deliberate and discriminatory treatment against Iran’s national football team to its highest level,” the embassy added.

On Friday, Barrack praised the US embassy in Ankara over its “work processing visas for Iran’s national football team” after the head of the Iran Football Federation, Mehdi Taj, said on the same day that the Iranian delegation had submitted passports for visas.

But reports on Saturday from Iranian media, including sports outlet Varzesh3, said members of the delegation, including Taj, along with executive members and analysts, have not been granted visas.

On Friday, Taj told state television that his “assessment is that all visas will be issued in full, and there most likely will not be........

© The Times of Israel