Iran FA Chief Taj: FIFA Must Guarantee US Will Not 'Insult' IRGC Before Iran Travels to World Cup

Iran Football Federation president Mehdi Taj issued a new political condition for Iran's World Cup participation on May 6: FIFA must provide official guarantees that the United States will not insult the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). 'Our host is FIFA, not Mr. Trump or America,' Taj stated. The demand follows the incident on April 29 where Taj himself was denied entry to Canada at Toronto Pearson Airport due to alleged IRGC ties, forcing him to miss the 76th FIFA Congress in Vancouver. Taj confirmed he will meet FIFA President Gianni Infantino in Zurich later in May to press for these guarantees. The condition creates a near-impossible diplomatic hurdle: the US officially designates the IRGC as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, making any formal commitment to 'not insult' it politically untenable under US law. Iran's Group G matches remain scheduled at US venues: SoFi Stadium (LA) on June 15 vs New Zealand and June 21 vs Belgium; Lumen Field (Seattle) on June 26 vs Egypt. The June 1 final squad submission deadline is 26 days away. Iran's provisional squad list is due to FIFA by May 11.