Iran's World Cup Delegation Included IRGC-Linked Operatives. The U.S. Blocked More Than Half of Them.

Since the U.S.-Iran military conflict began and negotiations opened in Switzerland, a separate front has emerged closer to home: Iran's apparent attempt to use the 2026 FIFA World Cup as an entry vector for personnel tied to its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) disclosed the details Sunday on Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures, speaking to host Maria Bartiromo. Iran's World Cup delegation, which Mullin said totals more than 100 people and is based in Tijuana, Mexico, flies into the United States only for match days. The team played Belgium on June 21 in Los Angeles, finishing in a 0-0 draw, according to SOFX.

What the U.S. Says Happened

Mullin said the U.S. accepted 53 individuals from Iran's delegation. The rest were denied entry after vetting identified IRGC connections. That means more than half of the additional representatives Iran sought to bring in were flagged.

The most specific case involved a man claiming to be the president of Iran's soccer federation. "When we started doing the research on him, he had only been put in place since 2022, and we didn't allow him to board the plane," Mullin said. "The guy that tried to get on the plane yesterday had direct ties to the IRGC."

SOFX identified that individual as Mehdi Taj, citing Iran International, which had separately reported in June that Taj — described by that outlet as IRGC-linked — had been denied a U.S. visa.

Mullin said Trump authorized "extreme vetting" of the Iranian contingent, anticipating exactly this kind of attempt. "These games that Iran plays makes them an adversary that you can't trust," he said.

Not Just the World Cup

Mullin told Bartiromo the delegation attempt was not isolated. He said U.S. and Canadian authorities have recorded a rise in Iranian nationals attempting to enter through the northern border, with most of those apprehended having direct ties to the IRGC. "We've seen an unusual amount of Iranian nationals trying to sneak in through our Northern Border," he said.

Iran's head coach Amir Ghalenoei, according to Breitbart, has complained publicly that the treatment his delegation received from the Iranian government itself has hurt his players' performance. This suggests internal friction between the athletic side of the delegation and whatever the regime was attempting to append to it.

The Strongest Counter-Argument

The obvious pushback: Mullin's claims are unverified by any independent source. No charges have been filed, no formal intelligence assessment has been made public, and the U.S. government has a clear incentive — given active negotiations with Iran — to frame Tehran as bad-faith. Iran has NOT confirmed any of this, and no Iranian official has been named in a criminal complaint or extradition request. Critics of the Trump administration's immigration posture would reasonably argue that aggressive vetting of any foreign national from an adversary state can produce false positives, and that denying entry is an administrative act, not proof of a plot.

Those are fair points. But the specificity here—a named official, a date of appointment, a flagged pattern at the northern border, and a 53-out-of-120-plus admission rate—sets this apart from a vague claim. It's still Mullin's word for now. Independent corroboration hasn't appeared in these sources.

Where the Sources Diverge

Breitbart's headline called the blocked individual a "terrorist" and characterized the episode as Iran trying to "sneak a terrorist" into the country. Mullin said IRGC ties—which are serious and the IRGC is a designated foreign terrorist organization—but did not use the word "terrorist" to describe the specific individual, nor has any charge been filed. The Daily Wire's coverage was more measured and stayed closer to Mullin's direct quotes. ZeroHedge noted accurately that Mullin did not provide additional details about the individuals' specific alleged ties, which the other outlets largely omitted.

The Broader Context

All of this happened while Vice President JD Vance was in Switzerland leading nuclear talks with Iranian officials. Vance said Sunday was "a very, very good day" for negotiations. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent issued a 60-day general license authorizing Iranian oil sales as part of the emerging framework. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced he will travel to the Middle East this week to brief regional allies.

Whether Iran's government authorized the IRGC-linked infiltration attempt as deliberate policy during live negotiations, or whether elements of the regime operate independently of whoever is sitting across the table from Vance in Switzerland, remains unclear. That distinction matters enormously for whether any deal reached in Switzerland can be trusted—and Mullin's own statement that Iran is "an adversary that you can't trust" reflects exactly that uncertainty.