WASHINGTON, June 2 (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers on Tuesday that the U.S. would not let Iranians with ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) embed themselves in the country’s delegation to take part in the soccer World Cup that begins this month.
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The Iranian team will play matches in the United States but will be based in Mexico for the tournament.
Despite the war the U.S. and Israel launched against Iran in late February, Rubio said Washington had “no problem” with the Iranian soccer team and its support staff entering the country.
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“What we’re not going to allow is for them to embed in their delegation a bunch of people that we know have nothing to do with athletics and have ties to the IRGC or things of that nature, so we were going to watch that very closely,” Rubio said at a House of Representatives committee hearing.
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(Reporting by Simon Lewis, Patricia Zengerle and Ryan Jones)
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