(SeaPRwire) –   By: Gavin Thorne

Markwayne Mullin didn’t just admit he was happy Iran was eliminated from the World Cup. He admitted he danced. He said he sang. He said pulling their visas made him joyful. This isn’t the language of a security chief. It’s the language of a fan who got to play bouncer. The DHS head turned a global sporting event into a personal victory lap over a team he systematically harassed. That is not a state secret. That is a public boast. And it tells us everything about how political power now operates inside the U.S. federal machine.

Iran’s team didn’t lose because they were bad at soccer. They exited after three draws against New Zealand, Belgium, and Egypt. That’s a respectable run. But Mullin’s agency made sure their tournament was a logistical nightmare. Iranian players were not allowed to stay in the U.S. like every other team. They were forced to bunk in Tijuana, Mexico, and commute to Los Angeles and Seattle for training and matches. That’s not border security. That’s targeted degradation disguised as protocol. Mullin admitted as much to an interagency meeting on Monday. He bragged that “there wasn’t a single team that we dealt with more than them.”

The DHS chief justified his operational relentlessness by claiming he took measures to prevent harassment. He said CBP agents screened the team in Mexico instead of upon arrival in the U.S. That is a bureaucrat’s trick. You create a hostile process, then frame your accommodations as generosity. But the true picture was drawn by Iran’s captain, Mehdi Taremi, after their last match against Egypt in Seattle. He said, “We have to fight against everything here.” That is a player talking about systemic friction, not just a tough opponent.

The Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran responded exactly as you would expect. Their statement cut through the spin. They said Iranians are used to the mistreatment and lies of U.S. officials. They said the dance quip revealed more about Mullin’s character than about their team. They called it contempt and narrow-mindedness. That is diplomatic language for: you abused your power and you’re gloating about it. And they are right. The DHS chief didn’t just enforce a policy. He personalized it. He turned the visa approval process into a tool for political score-settling.

Let’s be clear about the timeline. The U.S. eased travel restrictions only after Iran complained to FIFA ahead of its last game against Egypt. FIFA had to step in because the host nation’s security apparatus was actively handicapping one of the participating teams. That is a staggering admission of institutional bias. The tournament is co-hosted by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. The security agencies of a co-host should be neutral. Mullin was not neutral. He was a partisan operative using the DHS as his personal enforcement arm.

This case exposes a deeper pattern. The U.S. government has weaponized visa denials and travel restrictions for years. You do not get to host a global event and then selectively punish a nation’s delegation because you dislike its government. That is not security. That is state-level trolling. Mullin danced because he got to play the agent of elimination. But the real loser here is the credibility of the tournament itself. If a co-host openly celebrates the exit of a team it deliberately obstructed, the integrity of the entire competition is degraded.

The Iranian officials got one thing wrong. They said the dance reveals more about Mullin’s own character. It does. But it also reveals the character of an agency that now openly views its power as a permission slip for partisan glee. That is not a bug. It is the operating system.

Author bio: Gavin Thorne, an investigative journalist tracking special interests and legislative affairs based in Washington, D.C.