President Sheinbaum allows Iran team to stay in Mexico during World Cup after US refusal | Claudia Sheinbaum

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday that her government has agreed to allow Iran’s national soccer team to stay in Mexico during the World Cup and that the United States does not want to host the team.

Sheinbaum said football’s governing body, FIFA, appealed to his government after the United States said it did not want the Iranian team to remain in the country for the duration of the tournament, even though Iran played all three of its group matches there.

“We have no reason to rule out the possibility of them staying in Mexico,” Sheinbaum said at his daily news conference.

The USA and Israel launched an attack on Iran for the first time on February 28. The bombing killed thousands of people in Iran before a tenuous ceasefire was agreed in early April, amid Iran’s closure of the vital straits of the Hormuz waterway and protracted peace talks over the fate of its nuclear ambitions.

The White House and the State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Iranian football federation president Mehdi Taj said on Saturday that the team’s base would be moved from Arizona to the Mexican border city of Tijuana during the tournament.

Taj added that the move will help avoid visa-related complications and the team will be able to travel directly to Mexico via Iran Air flights. The Iranian team’s participation in the June 11-July 19 tournament was on the agenda due to the USA and Israel’s attack on Iran in late February.

Iran will play its first two matches in Group G against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15 and Belgium on June 21, followed by Egypt in Seattle on June 26.