From Associated Press.

The Iranian men’s national soccer team has started training in southern Turkey ahead of upcoming international friendlies, according to Turkish media reports.

Iran was one of the first nations to qualify for the World Cup finals and last week Mehdi Taj, president of the country’s football federation, insisted there were no plans to pull out of the tournament, although the Iranian FA is said to be negotiating to have their opening-round group matches moved from the USA to Mexico.