Iran's ambassador to Mexico, Abolfazl Pasandide, stated on Thursday that the Iranian national football team has not yet received US visas and is not competing in the World Cup on equal terms due to difficulties in training ahead of the tournament.

The ambassador visited Tijuana, Mexico, where the Iranians have relocated their training camp after originally planning to be based in Tucson, Arizona.

Pasandide accused the United States of failing to fulfill its hosting responsibilities: "The country to the north has not followed through on its responsibility. We don't know whether or not they're going to give the players their visas."

Iran will play their three World Cup group games in Los Angeles and Seattle. The head of the Iranian Football Federation had expressed hope that players would be granted multiple-entry visas.

"We aren't participating in the World Cup on equal terms. We haven't been able to train our team like they should, because of the US-Israel war on our country that began on February 28," Pasandide said.

On Wednesday, Iranian diplomats visited the stadium where the team is training and met with local security officials, according to a source from Club Tijuana.

Iran is scheduled to play New Zealand on June 15 in Los Angeles, Belgium on June 21, and Egypt on June 26 in Seattle.

Source: www.aljazeera.com