London, Apr.24 : Iranian officials are hopeful that when David Beckham's LA Galaxy club challenges the Iranian national team to a friendly match in the US next month, it may help in thawing relations between Washington and Tehran.

Selling tickets for the friendly would be no problem in Los Angeles, home to so many Iranian expatriates.

Iran's football federation is now waiting for an official invitation from its American counterpart for the game to go ahead, officials in Tehran say.

Hassan Ghaffari, the head of the foreign relations committee of Iran's football federation, was quoted by The Sun, as saying that the US Soccer Federation needed to send a formal invitation for the event to happen.

ANI