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Bloomberg - Iranian Vice
President Mohammad Aliabadi will travel to Germany for the soccer World
Cup, joining the stands in Nuremberg stadium on June 11 to watch his
national team play Mexico, the German Foreign Office said.
Iran is one of 32 teams participating in the tournament that starts
tomorrow and ends a month later. Responsible for sport in his country,
Aliabadi will or has entered Germany as a diplomat and has the right to
apply for security protection, said a Foreign Office spokesman who
declined to be identified.
Aliabadi may also attend the tournament's opening game in Munich
tomorrow, when Germany meets Costa Rica, Reuters news agency reported,
citing unnamed government officials. Aliabadi is also head of Iran's
Physical Education Organization.
Top German officials including Bavarian Interior Minister Guenther
Beckstein, who is coordinating World Cup security for Germany's 16
states, have expressed concern over potential clashes among Iranian
nationals during the games. About 100,000 Iranians live in Germany.
The Berlin-based Foreign Office still has no information on whether
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will attend the tournament, the
German ministry spokesman said.
Ahmadinejad may travel to Germany if his national team makes it through
the first round, Deutsche Presseagentur said on June 3, citing comments
he made in Tehran that day.
Iran's team moved into its quarters in the southern German city of
Friedrichshafen on June 4. Angola, Mexico and Portugal are in Group D
with Iran. |
