U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin says he did a "happy dance" to celebrate Iran's elimination from the World Cup.
Iran was knocked out of the tournament after drawing all three of its matches in the group stage. The Iranians came within inches of qualifying for the knockout round, but a dramatic offside call against Egypt in their final group match eventually denied them a place in the next phase.
"I'm just glad they're done, and they're not coming back," Mullin told reporters during a World Cup government briefing Monday, as first reported by Alex Silverman of Sports Business Journal. "I was so happy when we were able to pull their visas and said they could leave the U.S. soil, and I might've sung a song or two or maybe even danced a happy dance."
Mullin added that he's "very happy they're going back because there wasn't a single team that we dealt with more than them."
Iran's participation in the tournament was in question for months after U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on the country began in February.
Players, coaches, and members of the Iranian football federation (FFIRI) spoke out against various elements of their treatment at the tournament.
FIFA rejected Iran's request to have its matches relocated from the U.S. to Mexico. The team moved its base camp to Mexico and was required to fly back to its training base in Tijuana after each of its games instead of recovering at its U.S. hotel.
U.S. officials said the latter measure was clearly established before the tournament and that Iran was aware of the plan in advance.
Head coach Amir Ghalenoei, however, said his team was "oppressed" at the World Cup.
Mullin denied suggestions that Iran had anything to protest and also reiterated a previous claim that "almost half" of Iran's World Cup delegation had ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a group the U.S. has designated as a terrorist organization.
"Iranians are used to the mistreatment and lies of U.S. officials, so no one in Iran is surprised by these hostile remarks," an FFIRI official said in a statement provided to The Athletic after Mullin's latest comments.
They added, "The fact that he openly celebrates Iran's elimination says far more about him than it does about our team. It reflects a level of pettiness that cannot even tolerate the presence of a football team competing on the world's biggest stage."
