Representative Greg Steube (R-FL) has introduced a resolution to support the State Department's work to prevent the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from infiltrating the FIFA World Cup as it kicks off this week.
What is the State Department Doing?
With fears that the IRGC is embedding operatives in the Iranian National Football Delegation, the State Department is working to ensure that the Delegation's members are closely scrutinized to ensure that no member, affiliate, or associate of the IRGC is present and to limit the Delegation's physical presence in the United States to the shortest time necessary for Iran's scheduled World Cup matches.
What Steube is Saying
"The IRGC is a designated foreign terrorist organization responsible for supporting terrorism, targeting Americans, and destabilizing the Middle East," said Rep. Steube in a press release. "As the United States prepares to host the World Cup, we cannot allow the Iranian regime to exploit this event as an opportunity to place operatives on American soil."
Joining Rep. Steube in the resolution are Representatives Mike Bost (R-IL), Glenn Thompson (R-PA), Sheri Biggs (R-SC), Cory Mills (R-FL), Pat Harrigan (R-NC), Don Bacon (R-NE), Randy Fine (R-AZ), Max Miller (R-OH), and Eli Crane (R-AZ).
Crane's Concern
Rep. Crane has been among the most vocal members of Congress about the potential for a terror attack to occur in the United States during the World Cup, cosponsoring a bipartisan bill introduced in May that grants the National Guard authorization to counter drones, without relinquishing governors' control over their states' forces.
"As America prepares to host major global events, including the World Cup and the Summer Olympics, we cannot afford any gaps in our deterrence posture," said Rep. Crane.
The Arizona congressman said last July that the United States' apparent lack of readiness in the face of growing drone threats "keeps [him] up at night" and that "I just do not think that we are ready."
