By Herbert Villarraga
LOS ANGELES/TIJUANA, Mexico, June 14 (Reuters) - Iran's soccer team arrived in the United States for the first time at this World Cup on Sunday, landing at Los Angeles International Airport and holding a press conference on the same day that a peace deal between the two nations was announced.
The Iran squad arrived after a short flight from Tijuana, Mexico, where they left their base camp earlier to a rousing sendoff ahead of their opening game against New Zealand at Los Angeles Stadium on Monday.
"I am very happy to be representing the great, proud and strong nation of Iran," Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei said through a translator in a press conference at the stadium.
"I hope that football will bring about joy and enjoyment, and bring closer the cultures and countries."
The squad's Group G fixture against New Zealand will be played against the backdrop of the U.S. war with Iran and the newly-announced peace deal, adding a charged atmosphere to a contest between two nations who have never met at a World Cup.
Iran moved their World Cup base camp from a sports complex in Arizona to Mexico late last month after the U.S. and Israel conducted joint strikes on Iran beginning in late February.
Iran will now have to make the trip from Mexico to the U.S. for each of their three group matches and Ghalenoei said the travel and the denial of visas into the U.S. for some members of their soccer federation had negatively affected the squad.
The U.S.-Iran deal to end the war will be signed during an official ceremony on Friday in Switzerland, U.S. President Donald Trump and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on social media on Sunday.
'BRING AN END TO THIS REGIME'
While the squad flew to LA, a group of protesters calling for democracy in Iran and denouncing its government rallied near Los Angeles Stadium.
"No Shah - No Mullah in Iran - Regime Change by Iranians," said placards. Pictures and posters of athletes who protesters said had died after being arrested by the Iranian government lined a busy street corner in Inglewood.
The January crackdown on protests in Iran, which rights groups and activists say killed thousands - and possibly tens of thousands - was a particular outrage to Mojgan Ramezani, 56, an Iranian American at the rally.
"They're holding hostage their own people," said Ramezani.
Hassan Haddadi, 70, said he was frustrated that most of the world's governments had done little to support change in Iran.
“We’re hoping to bring awareness to the western world, to somehow do something beyond just condemning, to bring an end to this regime," said Haddadi.
Ghalenoei said the squad's players and coaches were "not political people."
"We are here to play football and represent the respectful people of Iran, be it the Iranians inside Iran or the Iranian diaspora."
'MEXICO STANDS WITH YOU'
Earlier in Tijuana, supporters lining five-deep on a packed sidewalk outside Iran's hotel chanted "Team Melli" — Persian for "national team" — as the Iranian players emerged from the hotel and walked towards the waiting bus.
Many of the players waved and smiled at those who had gathered while some members of the delegation took video of the scene with their phones.
One supporter held a yellow sign with black lettering reading: "Iran, you will never walk alone. Mexico stands with you."
A young boy perched on someone's shoulders clutched the official Panini FIFA World Cup 2026 sticker album, open to the Iran squad page.
At one point, the crowd sang in Spanish, "Iran, brother, you are Mexican now."
Iranian soccer federation President Mehdi Taj stood outside the hotel as the players left with many of the supporters following the bus down the street as it drove away.
The Iranian community in Tijuana is tiny - around 20 people - and much smaller than that of Los Angeles, which is home to the largest Iranian community outside Iran.
Tens of thousands of Iranian Americans live in Los Angeles, where a distinct diaspora often referred to as "Tehrangeles" has taken root.
This is the first World Cup since its inception in 1930 in which a host nation has received a country it is at war with.
(Reporting by Herbert Villarraga in Tijuana and Ed White, Hatem Maher and Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Writing by Frank Pingue in Toronto, Ossian Shine in New York, Editing by Ken Ferris and Ed Osmond)
