TEHRAN — A Russian diplomat has termed the U.S. obstruction against Iran’s national football team a violation of human rights.
The United States abused visa obstruction as a tool for political censorship against national teams, wrote Grigory Lukyantsev, the director of the Multilateral Human Rights Cooperation Department at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a post on his Telegram channel on Tuesday night.
The U.S. created conditions for Iran’s national football team that can only be described as discriminatory, he stated.
Artificial restrictions on issuing visas to Iranian national team players and deliberately prolonging entry processes were among the discriminatory measures taken by the U.S. against the Iranian team, he added.
The U.S. not only failed to guarantee the security of Iran’s national team but also opposed moving the team’s matches to Mexico and Canada, Lukyantsev noted.
All these actions by Washington reflect a targeted policy to pressure Iran’s national football team, he said.
The Russian diplomat further condemned the hypocrisy of the 2026 World Cup’s anti-racism rhetoric, pointing to racist statements by officials, the rejection of the symbolic protest against racism — the X gesture — by referees, and xenophobic chants from the crowds as clear proof.