Iran’s World Cup delegation has secured four successful visa appeals, allowing a small number of staff members to enter the United States for matches.
However, eleven members of the party remain barred from travelling to the US when Iran compete there during the tournament.
Iran last week accused the US of denying visas to “integral” members of its national football team’s backroom staff.
That accusation came after Washington officials confirmed Iranian players had been granted permission to travel to the country for the World Cup.
Iran had already relocated their World Cup base to Mexico over concerns rooted in the ongoing conflict between Iran and the United States.
Of the 15 Iranian delegation members initially denied US visas, 10 submitted fresh applications after arriving in Mexico.
Four of those appeals proved successful, with those granted visas including a technical staff analyst and two officials from the federation’s international department.
The remaining six reapplicants were rejected again, among them Iran Football Federation president Mehdi Taj, a federation vice-president, two team administrators, a media officer and a security officer.
A second media officer chose not to reapply at all following the initial rejection, bringing the total number of barred individuals to eleven.
Iran open their World Cup campaign against New Zealand on 15 June in Los Angeles, before facing Belgium in the same city on 21 June and then meeting Egypt in Seattle on 26 June.
The country’s group-stage ticket allocation for supporters was also revoked by US officials earlier this week, though Fifa has insisted it is working to “maximise opportunities for Iranian supporters to attend matches.”
The Iran Football Federation had previously presented Fifa with a list of 10 conditions for participation, including allowing officials who have completed military service with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio had stated that Iran’s players would be welcome but that individuals with links to the IRGC could face entry restrictions.
Iran was absent from Fifa’s annual congress in Vancouver in April after delegation members were turned away at the Canadian border due to cited IRGC connections.
The visa difficulties facing the Iranian delegation are not an isolated incident, with fans from several nations also barred and Somali referee Omar Artan denied entry to officiate at the tournament.
Former Fifa president Sepp Blatter criticised the organisation over these issues, posting: “A Fifa World Cup host country must guarantee two fundamental principles: the safety of the country – and the unrestricted entry of all qualified teams, officials and referees.”
Blatter added: “The case of referee Omar Artan from Somalia is against one of these obligations. Fifa must never compromise the universality of football.”
Blatter, 90, departed the Fifa presidency following corruption allegations and received a six-year ban from football, though a subsequent criminal case later cleared him of the charges.
