With their first 2026 World Cup match less than two weeks away, Iran's football federation expects the team to receive Mexican entry on Tuesday, followed by U.S. visas on Friday.
"We will leave for Spain on Saturday, and from there the team will go directly to Tijuana in Mexico," Iran football federation chief Mehdi Taj said in an interview on Iranian TV.
"We will obtain a Mexican visa Tuesday or the day after, and then a US visa will be issued quickly," Taj added.
Iran's training base, originally set for Tucson, Arizona, was moved to Tijuana, Mexico, at the request of its football federation due to security concerns, thus necessitating additional visas.
Iran will play two of their group stage matches in Inglewood, California, versus New Zealand on June 15, and then against Belgium six days later. Iran's third match will take place on June 26 when they face Egypt in Seattle.
Team Melli's participation in the World Cup has been in doubt ever since the U.S. and Israel launched joint attacks against Iran in late February. Despite reports of a possible peace proposal, the hostilities have continued. FIFA has long insisted that Iran would fully participate in the tournament.
The issue of visas has been especially fraught for the Iran team. In April, Taj had his visa to enter Canada canceled due to his prior affiliation with Iran's Islamic Republican Revolutionary Guards, which has been classified as a terrorist organization by both Canada and the U.S.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that the Iranian delegation would be monitored closely for anyone with ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
"We have no problem with the athletes, as we stated earlier, or their support staff," Rubio said during a House Appropriations Subcommittee hearing. "But what we're not going to allow is for them to embed in their delegation a bunch of people that we know have nothing to do with athletics and have ties to the IRGC or things of that nature.
"So we were going to watch that very closely, and we'll continue to watch that very closely, but by and large, I don't anticipate that problem with any other country."
With professional soccer suspended since the outbreak of the war, Iran have been training in the Turkish town of Antalya.