[69505] Iran's national team on its way to the World Cup: Players arrived at the US Embassy in Ankara to receive a visa

The Iranian delegation on its way to the US ahead of the World Cup

In a significant step ahead of the opening of the FIFA World Cup, scheduled for about 21 days from now, it was reported that members of Iran's national football team arrived at the United States Embassy in Ankara, the capital of Turkey, for the purpose of submitting visa applications.

According to a report by Iran International, a media outlet affiliated with the Iranian opposition and a harsh critic of the regime in Tehran, the vice president of the Iranian Football Federation confirmed that the delegation arrived in Turkey in order to complete the bureaucratic process required for their entry into the US.

The news was disseminated simultaneously by a large number of local channels focused on sports and general news, including خبر فوری جنگ ایران, ورزش سه and آخرین خبر. These channels reported consistently and briefly that "members of Iran's national football team visited the US Embassy in Ankara to apply for a visa," as quoted in خبرفوری.

The development comes against the backdrop of the long-standing diplomatic tensions between the countries, as the very act of reaching out to the American diplomatic level for the purpose of participating in a prominent international sporting event attracts much public attention. No special difficulties in the process or obstacles from the American authorities were reported at this point in time.