TEHRAN- A high-profile official from Iran's association of football governing body announced on Sunday that the federation will file a complaint with the FIFA Ethics Committee after the U.S. soccer team displayed the country's flag on social media without including the Islamic Republic of Iran's insignia.

“First and foremost, let me express my congratulations to the noble country of Iran on Team Melli's triumph over Wales,” said Safiullah Faghanpour, the legal advisor to the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI).

Faghanpour added, “I hope the process will continue in the next game and our team will defeat the American side to offer delight to all Iranians.”

He said, “According to international accords, respect for a nation's flag is a fundamental value that all nations in the world must uphold. As a result, the action conducted in relation to the Iranian flag violates international law and morality. The Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran will undoubtedly bring up this matter with the FIFA Ethics Committee and hold Americans accountable for the action.”

“It goes without saying that Americans would try to impress our team with such an action before this crucial match. For now, we should concentrate on the game,” Faghanpour noted.

The Islamic Republic of Iran play their final Group B match against the United States on Tuesday (29 November).

Faghanpour said the legal team of Iran's soccer organization will file the complaint after the match.

The U.S. Soccer Federation announced in a statement that it had chosen to remove the Islamic Republic of Iran's logo from the Iranian flag on its social media accounts in support of the country's "protests".

Faghanpour said this is an indication that Washington has been fanning and funding recent disturbances in Iran.

Neil Buethe, a spokesperson for the U.S. federation, declined to confirm if former national team player and USSF President Cindy Parlow Cone had approved the first choice. Parlow Cone, according to Buethe, was unavailable to talk about the situation.

He stated, "The federation made this choice. I won't discuss who was aware and who wasn't.”

The Iranian flag only had its green, white, and red colors shown on the U.S. men's team Twitter account's banner listing the team's group-stage matches. The same was evident in a post on its Facebook and Instagram feeds that listed the group's current point totals.

On its website, the U.S. Soccer Federation featured an image of the official Iranian flag alongside the Group B standings.

“The U.S. team breached the FIFA charter, for which a 10-game suspension is the proper penalty,” Tasnim news agency wrote on Twitter, suggesting that the U.S. squad should be kicked out of the World Cup.

Section 13 goes into how FIFA will handle discrimination going forward.

“Any person who offends the dignity or integrity of a country, a person or group of people through contemptuous, discriminatory or derogatory words or actions (by any means whatsoever) on account of race, skin color, ethnic, national or social origin, gender, disability, language, religion, political opinion, wealth, birth or any other status or any other reason, shall be sanctioned with a suspension lasting at least ten matches or a specific period, or any other appropriate disciplinary measure,” according to section 13 of FIFA rules.

The disappearance of the insignia coincides with foreign-backed uprisings that swept through several Iranian cities after Mahsa Amini, 22, died on September 16 at hospital three days after she fainting at a police station. According to an investigation, Amini's illness caused her death rather than reported police abuse.

The violent riots resulted in the deaths of several individuals and security personnel. The riots opened the door for certain terrorist acts, including one in Shiraz on October 26 in which 13 people lost their lives and around 30 others wounded. The hooligans killed a number of Basij members and security forces via torture.