TEHRANTIMES - El Jaish head coach Sabri Lamouchi has been surprised after Arab media called Iran as an unsafe place.

El Jaish will meet Naft Tehran on Tuesday in Tehran’s Azadi Stadium in a repeat of the fixture involving the two teams last season, where the Iranian team defeated its Qatari rival 1-0.

“This is the second time I’m here in Iran and I’m completely surprised when the media ask me about the safety of this place. Iranians are very hospitable and we had no problem here. We are here to play football not talk about politics,” El Jaish head coach Sabri Lamouchi told the pre-match press conference.

“We know we have a very difficult game against Naft because we were here for the play-off match last year but this time we have more chance to qualify for the AFC Asian Champions League group stage,” he added.