Iran’s ambassador to Mexico stated that the country’s national football team has still not received entry visas to the United States and is therefore not competing in the World Cup on equal footing, due to the difficulty of holding training sessions before the start of the tournament.

Ambassador Abolfazl Pasandideh visited the border city of Tijuana in northwestern Mexico, where the Iranian team has chosen to stay during the World Cup finals instead of Tucson, Arizona in the United States.

During a press conference, the ambassador said that “the country to the north,” referring to the United States, had failed to meet its commitments regarding hosting the Iranian team.

He added: “We do not know whether they will grant visas to the players or not.”

Iranian National Team Players. (Agencies)

The Iranian national team will play its three group stage matches in two cities on the west coast of the United States: Los Angeles and Seattle.

Mehdi Taj, president of the Iranian Football Federation, had previously said they hoped the players would be granted multiple entry visas.

Pasandideh added: “We are not participating in the World Cup on equal terms.”

He continued: “We were unable to properly prepare and train our team,” due to the war in the Middle East that began on February 28 between the United States and Israel on one side and Iran on the other.

Iranian diplomats visited the stadium where the team was training on Wednesday, according to a source from Club Tijuana who spoke to Agence France Presse.

The source added that the diplomats also met with local security officials.

Iran is scheduled to play in Los Angeles on June 15 against New Zealand, on June 21 against Belgium, and then in Seattle against Egypt five days later.