The Iranian national soccer side is preparing to play the United States later today, in a friendly match in California.

It's the first time the Iranian national team has visited the US since the Islamic Revolution more than twenty years ago.

The match has already provoked some controversy, with the Iranian authorities complaining about police searching the team's luggage.

But it's also generated huge interest in California, where the match is being played, and which is home to about a million Iranians. The United States and Iran have no formal diplomatic ties, but have recently stepped up cultural links.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service