This decision was taken after the administration of US President Donald Trump refused entry visas to most of the official Iranian delegation.
"We have informed FIFA that this decision has nothing to do with football. Members of the Iranian delegation will not participate in the 2026 World Cup draw," an FFIRI spokesperson said.
A federation spokesman stated that the boycott had nothing to do with sports at all, but was purely a response to Washington's political actions.
According to a report by Iranian sports media outlet Varzesh 3, visa denials occurred on Tuesday (November 25), including for FFIRI Chairman Mehdi Taj and several other high-ranking officials. Mehdi Taj asserted that the US action was political and called on FIFA to intervene.
"We have sent an official letter to FIFA President Gianni Infantino stating that this is purely political posturing. FIFA must demand that the United States stop this arrogant behavior," Taj said.
Although most of the delegation was rejected, four members of the Iranian team were granted visas, including national team coach Amir Ghalenoei.
FFIRI considers this discriminatory treatment to be baseless because delegations from other countries with the same number of personnel were still admitted without any problems.
Iran, which qualified for the 2026 World Cup through the Asian Zone qualifiers, will still participate in next year's tournament, but the absence of an official delegation at the draw is seen as a strong protest against the Trump administration's visa policies.
As of Friday evening, FIFA had not yet issued an official response regarding the Iran boycott and the FFIRI's request for intervention.
