Cristiano Ronaldo has been greeted by extraordinary scenes in Iran with hundreds of fans chasing the Al-Nassr bus and then storming the team's hotel to catch a glimpse of him.<br /><br />The Saudi Arabian club is set to play Tehran-based side Persepolis in their opening AFC Champions League group stage fixture on Tuesday night and they've had quite the welcome.<br /><br />Videos released on Al-Nassr's X feed showed fans running down the road in pursuit of their yellow team coach as excitement ahead of the fixture reached a fever pitch.<br /><br />Fans young and old were spotted holding up Ronaldo posters and wearing Ronaldo shirts as the Portuguese superstar prepares to play in the Iranian capital.<br /><br />In other social media videos, hundreds of local fans could be seen rushing inside the lobby of the hotel where Al-Nassr is staying while chanting 'Ronaldo, Ronaldo'.<br /><br />Ronaldo was seen smiling as he was escorted up to his room at the Espinas Palace Tehran by security guards followed by the remainder of the Al-Nassr squad and their staff.<br /><br />An entire floor has been set aside for the Al-Nassr party with a suite reserved for Ronaldo.<br /><br />In a slightly less chaotic moment, Ronaldo was presented with a traditional Persian rug shortly after touching down at Tehran's Imam Khomeini Airport and looked thrilled with the gift.<br /><br />Another present to the Al-Nassr party will come in the form of special SIM cards which will allow them to access the internet without restrictions during their stay.<br /><br />This is something Iranian citizens cannot do with thousands of websites and all global messaging services and social media blocked.<br /><br />Tuesday's match at the 78,000-capacity Aazdi Stadium does come with some regrets for the locals, however, because it will be played behind closed doors.<br /><br />This relates to a one-match stadium ban handed down to Persepolis for a social media post ahead of their match with Indian club FC Goa during the 2021-22 season.<br /><br />The now-deleted post cited Iran's invasion of India (in 1738-1740) and historic battles between the two countries to spur their team ahead of the group stage meetings with Goa.<br /><br />The message offended people in India and their football association formally complained to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), which handed Persepolis the ban.<br /><br />They didn't play in continental competitions last season, so the ban will now be served - as their bad luck would have it - for the visit of Al-Nassr and Ronaldo.<br /><br />In recent days, Persepolis fans have been commenting with apologies on FC Goa's Instagram posts in a bid to get the ban overturned at the last minute.<br /><br />But as it stands, the match will be played with no spectators in attendance, which may explain the crazy scenes when Al-Nassr arrived.<br /><br />Al-Nassr is the first Saudi club to visit Iran in seven years. Tensions have often been high between the two countries but a deal brokered by China in March restored ties.<br /><br />It comes as five American prisoners sought by the United States flew out of Tehran on Monday as part of a deal that
