Iran’s World Cup has been a story of closed doors, but one of them has finally swung open for Mehdi Torabi.
The winger looked set to spend the rest of the group stage stranded at the team’s camp across the border in Tijuana — his single-entry US visa already spent. Then, with a fragile peace deal between the United States and Iran only days old, Washington changed its mind.
It is a small gesture against a backdrop of air strikes, denied visas and a team ordered out of Los Angeles. After weeks in which almost everything has gone against Iran, a player being waved back across the border is a rare piece of good news.
US hand Mehdi Torabi a visa lifeline ahead of Belgium clash
Earlier on Tuesday, the Iran Football Federation laid out the problem. Most of the squad held multi-entry visas, but Torabi’s covered only a single entry — and it expired the moment he left the country after the New Zealand game.
Torabi would miss the next two group games against Belgium and Egypt unless fresh paperwork came through.
By the evening, there was positive news. The federation confirmed a new multiple-entry visa had been granted, and credited FIFA for helping facilitate a rare moment of cooperation between the warring nations.
The federation said, as reported by Reuters: “Following efforts by the Football Federation and coordination with FIFA, the player was issued a new multiple-entry visa today.
“With this visa now secured, Torabi will have no issues accompanying Iran’s national team in its upcoming matches and will be available to travel with the squad throughout the remainder of the tournament.”
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Torabi was an unused substitute in Monday’s 2-2 draw and has yet to feature at the tournament, so the fuss has had nothing to do with his football.
The 31-year-old is a vocal supporter of the Iranian government and has been linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a body the United States designates a terrorist entity.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio had said no one with ties to the force would be allowed in alongside the players.
It also arrives against a bruising run for Iran away from the pitch. Fifteen federation officials were refused entry, the squad was based across the border in Mexico, and head coach Amir Ghalenoei hit out at FIFA and US policy after his players were told to leave Los Angeles within hours of the final whistle.
Monday’s opener had been on course to become the first time a World Cup host welcomed a nation it was at war with — until a peace deal was announced barely 24 hours before kick-off.
A visa for a government loyalist is the kind of quiet concession that suggests the ceasefire is holding. Whether the goodwill stretches any further than this is a question nobody can answer yet.
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