Iran demands US guarantees against insulting IRGC or will skip World Cup

The head of Iran’s Football Federation demanded on Tuesday that the United States provide official guarantees that the country’s military, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), will not be insulted during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, warning that Iran could withdraw from the tournament if the condition is not met, Iranian media reported.

"Americans, if they guarantee not to insult our military institutions and the IRGC, we'll go - If they give such a guarantee that an incident like Canada doesn't happen and they definitely assure it, we'll go; we have no business with America at all," Mehdi Taj, president of the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran, said.

The “Canada incident” refers to Mehdi Taj and members of Iran’s football delegation being stopped and questioned by Canadian border officials in Toronto over admissibility concerns linked to Canada’s designation of the IRGC; after facing prolonged inspection and uncertainty over entry, the delegation was not allowed to proceed with their planned visit and left Canada, missing the FIFA Congress in Vancouver.