Vancouver Whitecaps right back Steven Beitashour moved one step closer to fulfilling his World Cup dreams on Tuesday.
His name was among the list of 28 released by former MLS head coach Carlos Queiroz for Iran's pre-World Cup training camp in Austria beginning next week.
The list is highlighted by nine other foreign-based players, featuring Eintracht Braunschweig goalkeeper Daniel Davari and Fulham forward Ashkan Dejagah. A total of 20 players ply their trade in the domestic league in Iran.
Queiroz will be required to submit a final 23-man squad to FIFA by the June 2 deadline. The preliminary 28-man list follows below. For the comprehensive team guide CLICK HERE.
Goalkeepers (4):
Daniel Davari (Eintracht Braunschweig - Germany / 26)
Alireza Haghighi (Sporting Covilha - Portugal / 26)
Rahman Ahmadi (Sepahan Esfahan - Iran / 33)
Sousha Makani – (Foolad Khuzestan - Iran / 27)
Defenders (11):
Khosro Heydari (Esteghlal Tehran - Iran / 30)
Hossein Mahini (Persepolis Tehran - Iran / 27)
Steven Beitashour (Vancouver Whitecaps - MLS / 27)
Pejman Montazeri (Umm Salal - Qatar / 30)
Jalal Hosseini (Persepolis Tehran - Iran / 32)
Amir-Hossein Sadeghi (Esteghlal Tehran - Iran / 32)
Mohammad-Reza Khanzadeh (Zob Ahan Esfahan - Iran / 22)
Ahmad Alenemeh (Naft Tehran - Iran / 31)
Hashem Beikzadeh (Esteghlal Tehran - Iran / 30)
Ehsan Hajsafi (Sepahan Esfahan - Iran / 24)
Mehrdad Pouladi (Persepolis Tehran - Iran / 27)
Midfielders (5):
Javad Nekounam (Kuwait SC - Kuwait / 33)
Andranik Teymourian (Esteghlal Tehran - Iran / 31)
Reza Haghighi (Persepolis Tehran - Iran / 25)
Ghasem Hadadifar (Zob Ahan Esfahan - Iran / 30)
Bakhtiar Rahmani (Foolad Khuzestan - Iran / 22)
Forwards (8):
Ashkan Dejagah (Fulham FC - England / 27)
Masoud Shojaei (UD Las Palmas - Spain / 29)
Alireza Jahanbakhsh (NEC Nijmegen - Netherlands / 20)
Mohammad-Reza Khalatbari (Persepolis Tehran - Iran / 30)
Mehdi Sharifi (Sepahan Esfahan - Iran / 21)
Reza Ghoochannejhad (Charlton Atheltic - England / 26)
Karim Ansarifard (Tractor Sazi Tabriz - Iran / 24)
Sardar Azmoun (Rubin Kazan - Russia / 19)
