Iran is to boycott next week's draw for the 2026 soccer World Cup in the United States in protest at the limited allocation of visas, the Iranian football federation said on Friday.

"The Iranian delegation will not be present for the World Cup draw in relation to the latest status of issuing visas for the Iranian delegation to attend the draw ceremony", federation spokesman Amir Mehdi Alavi was quoted as saying by Iranian sports news website Tarafdari.

The United States has long-standing strict visa restrictions on Iranians for political and security reasons.

Alavi was quoted as saying that the U.S. had granted visas to four members of the Iranian delegation, including head coach Amir Ghalenoei, but had not granted a visa to Iranian Football Federation President Mehdi Taj.

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