Volleyball - Team Islamic Rep. of Iran

General
The Islamic Republic of Iran made their Olympic debut in 2016. Victories against Cuba and Egypt in Rio clinched the last qualification spot in their group for the quarterfinals, where they lost to eventual silver medallists Italy. They will return to Olympic action in Tokyo thanks to a comfortable victory at the Asian Olympic qualification tournament in January 2020 where they lost just two sets in their campaign, both to the Korean team in the semifinal, before disposing the Chinese team 3-0 in the final.

While Iranian youth and junior teams have both won world championship titles, the senior team is yet to stand on the podium at a major world-level tournament. The closest they have come was at the 2014 World League, where they lost 3-0 to Italy in the third-place match, the same year they also posted their best world championship finish of sixth. At the 2019 Nations League they did not progress from the final group phase after losses to Brazil and Poland.

At continental level it is a different story, with the Iranian team arriving in Tokyo as the reigning Asian and Asian Games champions. Over the past decade the Islamic Republic of Iran has emerged as Japan's key rival for continental dominance, with the two teams sharing all nine Asian Games and Asian championship titles on offer since 2009. The Iranians have captured back-to-back gold medals at the last two editions of the Asian Games, and three out of the last five Asian championship titles.