The US is easing its restrictions on Iran's World Cup team, allowing the squad to travel into the country two days before its next match, the US Department of Homeland Security said on Tuesday.
The team will still be required to leave after Friday's match in Seattle, a spokesperson for the department said. Iran’s Football Federation confirmed that the team will leave its base camp in Tijuana, Mexico, on Wednesday for Seattle following news of the eased restrictions.
“This was planned on our end,” Andrew Giuliani, the executive director of the White House FIFA Task Force, told The Associated Press.
“We were going to look at how the first two movements went, and if they went smoothly, we would extend the extra day in light of the longer travel time.”
The policy change was first reported by US media outlet NBC News and comes as officials from both countries negotiate over how to end the war in Iran, which the US launched with Israel on the 28th of February.
