The Iran men’s national basketball team (Persian: تیم ملی بسکتبال مردان ایران) represents Iran in international basketball, and is governed by the Islamic Republic of Iran Basketball Federation (IRIBF).
Iran is one of Asia’s most successful federations. Since the turn of the century, they’ve won three FIBA Asia Cup tournaments, while also claiming a silver and two bronze medals at the competition. Iran has also qualified for every edition of the FIBA World Cup since 2010, and have participated in two Olympic Games (2008, 2020).
History
Early years In 1948, the Iran national basketball team participated in th London Olympics, their first appearance in the competition. In 1951, Iran participated in the first Asian Games held in Delhi and placed third in Asia. In 1959, Iran participated in the EuroBasket held in Turkey.
2007 FIBA Asia Championship Placed in the dreaded "Group of Death" alongside China, the Philippines, and Jordan, the Iranians won all three group matches to make it to the next round. In the quarterfinals, Iran went 2–1, to make it to semifinals, following victories over Chinese Taipei and Qatar, and then routed Kazakhstan, 75–62, in the semifinals.
The Iranians then beat Lebanon 74–69, with Hamed Haddadi scoring 31 points. Not only did it avenge an 82–60 defeat in the quarterfinals, they also became the first Western Asian team to win the tournament, and thus make it to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
2008 Beijing Olympic Games In being crowned the 2007 Asian Champions, the Iranians qualified for the 2008 Beijing games for the first time in 60 years. The Olympic experience led to a flurry of opportunities for the Iranian players, as they traveled across the world in preparation for the games, including a visit to the US. They also defeated Serbia (72–70) before the start of the tournament in 2008 FIBA Diamond Ball.Iran was placed in Group A, along with Lithuania, Russia, Argentina, Croatia, and Australia, suffering five defeats. The Olympic experience opened doors for players such as Hamed Haddadi, and Iranian captain Samad Nikkhah Bahrami to play in the NBA (National Basketball Association) and sign in the top French League.
Haddadi finished with averages of 16.6 points per game, 11.2 rebounds per game, and 2.6 blocks per game, leading the entire tournament in the latter two categories. His highlight performance was in the game against Argentina when he put up 21 points and 16 rebounds.
2009 FIBA Asia Championship Winning the FIBA Asia Championship 2009 at Tianjin, China, was a sign on continuing progress in basketball.Iran won all three group matches against Chinese Taipei, Kuwait, Uzbekistan to make it to the next round.In the second round Iran Won Japan, Philippines and South Korea.In the Quarterfinals Iran wins Qatar and in Semifinals Iran wins Jordan.Iran defeated China, by a score of 70–52 in the final.
2010 FIBA World Championship Iran's second consecutive FIBA Asia Championship gave them their first ever FIBA World Championship berth, at the 2010 FIBA World Championship.The team lost against USA, Brazil, Croatia, Slovenia and one win against Tunisia.Iran finished 1–4 in Group B, for 19th place.
2013 FIBA Asia Championship Winning the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship at Manila, Philippines, was a sign that the Iranian team has forgot the tragedy of their loss to Jordan in last tournament, 2011 FIBA Asia Championship, and reclaimed the top place in the FIBA Asia. Iran defeated the charged up hosts Philippines by an 85–71 win in the final. Iranian center Hamed Haddadi, who played a stellar role in Iran's triumph at the 27th FIBA Asia Championship, became the most accomplished individual player of the competition winning two awards, including that of the MVP. Iran was the only team with two awards in the All Stars with Oshin Sahakian named for the Power Forward position.
2014 FIBA World Cup In the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain, Iran national basketball team was grouped with Spain, Egypt, Serbia, Brazil and France in Group A.Iran national basketball team, in its first meeting in the opening game, faced Spain, the world's second-ranked team, and succumbed to defeat.On the sixth day of the 2014 FIBA World Cup and in its last match of the preliminary stage, Iran faced the French and succumbed to defeat, and finally ranked 21st with 4 losses and one win against Egypt. Iran lost against France and Serbia.
2019 FIBA World Cup In the 2019 FIBA World Cup of China, which was held in Asia for the first time, the Iran team was grouped in Group C with the teams of Spain, Puerto Rico and Tunisia. They lost all three games and competed with the Angolan and Philippine teams to rank 17–32 (for the first time in this period, 32 teams participated) and won both matches. Thanks to the goal difference, they finished ahead of China, which had lost against Nigeria, and went to the Tokyo Olympics as the best Asian team.
2020 Tokyo Olympic Games
Iran is in group A of the competitions along with the US, France, and Czech.Iranian men’s basketball team conceded a 78–84 defeat against Czech at the opening match of the basketball competitions of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.In their second game at the Olympics, Iranian basketball players lost to the US 66–120.Iran’s national basketball team finished the campaign in the 2020 Olympics with a 79–62 loss against France at Saitama Super Arena.Iran, in its three appearance at the Olympics, conceded three defeats in Group A.
2023 FIBA World Cup Iran was only one of three teams at the World Cup 2023 to go home without a win. Finishing bottom in Group G after resounding defeats to Brazil, Côte d'Ivoire and Spain. Further disappointment was to follow in the classification games against France and Lebanon. After the final play of their campaign, one man took centre stage, Hamed Haddadi, bidding a final farewell after 4 consecutive World Cup runs with Iran. At the other end of his career is Mohammad Amini. The 18-years-old who plays for AS Monaco Basket, played 30 minutes a game and was Iran's top tournament scorer.
Competitive record Olympic Games Summer Olympic Games recordYearRoundRankPFPAPD 1936Did not enter 194813th place match14th place725199366−167 1952Did not enter 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980Boycotted the event 1984 1988Did not enter 1992Did not qualify 1996 2000 2004 2008Preliminary round11th place505323464−141 2012Did not qualify 2016 2020Preliminary round12th place303206283−77 2024Did not qualify 2028Future events 2032Total3/20152137281,113−385—
FIBA World Cup FIBA World Cup recordQualification recordYearRoundRankPFPAPDPFPAPD 1950Did not enterVia Wild Card 1954 1959 1963 1967Via FIBA Asia Cup 1970 1974Did not qualify 1978Did not enter 1982Did not qualify 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010Preliminary round19th514301367−66 2014Preliminary round20th514344406−62 201923rd523379372+71284890811+79 202331st505321419−981266856824+32 2027To be determined853599542+57 2031To be determinedTotal4/19204161,3451,564−219—3219132,3452,177+168
FIBA Asia Cup FIBA Asia Cup recordQualification recordYearRoundRankPFPAPDPFPAPD 1960Did not enterNo qualification 1963 1965 1967 1969 1971 1973Championship5th place1046798899-101 1975Did not enter 1977 1979 1981Classification 7th–12th8th place734653648+5 1983Classification 5th–8th5th place651421365+56 1985Classification 5th–8th8th place624467482-5 1987Did not enter 19895th place game5th place743613614-1 19915th place game6th place844680650+30 19934th place game4th place642489465+24 19959th place game10th place853594505+89 19977th place game8th place734510579-69 1999Did not qualifyVia WABA Championshipor FIBA Asia Challenge 2001 20035th place game5th place743538577-19 20055th place game6th place844562512+50 2007FinalChampions871592555+37 2009FinalChampions990767581+186 20115th place game5th place981947516+431 2013FinalChampions990781489+292 20153rd place game3rd place972774542+232 2017FinalRunners-up651494418+76 2022Quarterfinals5th place431340294+46651484351+133 20253rd place game3rd place651442405+37651453305+148Total3 titles19/31140954511,46210,066+1,396—12102937656+281
Asian Games Asian Games recordYearRoundRankPFPAPD 1951Round-robin3rd place422222195+27 1954Did not enter 1958 1962 19667th place game7th place734543575-32 19707th place game7th place862740668+72 19745th place game6th place734643580+63 1978Did not enter 1982 1986 19907th place game7th place633466499-33 19947th place game8th place624498530-32 19987th place game7th place624452465-13 2002Did not enter 2006Bronze medal game3rd place853632581+51 2010Bronze medal game3rd place862566461+105 2014Gold medal gameRunners-up761565456+109 2018Gold medal gameRunners-up431313274+39 2022Classification 5th–6th5th place651512409+103 2026Bronze medal game3rd place642415417–2Total13/208350336,5676,110+457—
FIBA Asia Challenge FIBA Asia Challenge record (Defunct)YearRoundRankPFPAPD 2004Qualified but withdrew 2008 20105th place game6th place734500504-4 2012FinalChampions770519422+97 2014FinalChampions761496410+86 2016FinalChampions880670402+268Total3 titles4/6292452,1851,738+447—
FIBA Diamond Ball FIBA Diamond Ball record (Defunct)YearRoundRankPFPAPD 2000Did not qualify 2004 20083rd place game4th place312000Total1/3312189226-37—
West Asian Championship WABA Championship record (Defunct)YearRoundRank 1999Round-robin4th place413 2000Round-robin4th place422 2001Round-robin3rd place422 2002Round-robinRunners-up431 2004Round-robinChampions440 2005Round-robinChampions440 2008Did not enter 2010Round-robinChampions330 2011Round-robinChampions330 2012Round-robinRunners-up541 2013Round-robinChampions330 2014Round-robinRunners-up541 2015Did not enter 2016Round-robinChampions440 2017Round-robinRunners-up541Total6 titles13/15524111—
Other tournaments EuroBasket 1959 – 17th place 2016 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament – Turin 2016 – 5th place FIBA Stanković Continental Champions' Cup 2010 – 4th place Islamic Solidarity Games 2005 – 3rd place William Jones Cup 2009 – Champions 2010 – Champions 2011 – Champions 2013 – Champions 2015 – Champions
Honours FIBA Asia Cup Gold (3): 2007, 2009, 2013 Silver (1): 2017 Bronze (2): 2015, 2025 Asian Games Silver: (2):2014, 2018 Bronze: (4): 1951, 2006, 2010, 2026 FIBA Asia Challenge Gold (3): 2012, 2014, 2016
Competition TotalFIBA Asia Cup3 1 2 6Asian Games0 2 4 6FIBA Asia Challenge3 0 0 3 Total 6 3 6 15
Individual Awards FIBA Asia Cup MVP Hamed Haddadi – 2007, 2009, 2013, 2017 FIBA Asia Cup All-Tournament Team Hamed Haddadi – 2009, 2011, 2013, 2017 Samad Nikkhah Bahrami – 2009, 2011, 2015 Oshin Sahakian – 2013 Mohammad Jamshidi – 2017 Mohammad Sina Vahedi - 2025 FIBA Asia Cup Top Scorer Hamed Haddadi – 2013 FIBA Asia Challenge MVP Hamed Haddadi – 2014, 2016 Samad Nikkhah Bahrami – 2012
Team Roster for the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup Qualification.
Past rosters Olympic Games
1948 London Ashtari, Ehsasi, Esfandiary, Hashemi, Karandish, Mohtadi, Rafati, Sadeghi, Salabi, Shademan, Soroudi, Soudipour, Zadegan, Coach: Kazem Rambari
2008 Beijing 4 Doraghi, 5 Amini, 6 Davari, 7 Kamrani, 8 Davarpanah, 9 Zandi, 10 Afagh, 11 Sohrabnejad, 12 Sahakian, 13 Nabipour, 14 Bahrami, 15 Haddadi: Coach. Rajko Toroman
2020 Tokyo 4 Vahedi, 5 Jalalpoor, 7 Hassanzadeh, 8 Davarpanah, 13 Jamshidi, 14 Nikkhah Bahrami, 15 Haddadi, 17 Rezaeifar, 20 Rostampour, 23 Geramipoor, 41 Kazemi, 88 Yakhchali, Coach: Mehran Shahintab
FIBA Basketball World Cup
2010 turkey 4 Nabipour, 5 Davoudi, 6 Davari, 7 Kamrani, 8 Veisi, 9 Zandi, 10 Hassanzadeh, 11 Sahakian, 12 Kazemi, 13 Kardoust, 14 Davarpanah, 15 Haddadi, Coach: Veselin Matić
2014 Spain 4 Arghavan, 5 Mashayekhi, 6 Yakhchali, 7 Kamrani, 8 Kazemi, 9 Zangeneh, 10 Afagh, 11 Sahakian, 12 Kardoust, 13 Jamshidi, 14 Bahrami, 15 Haddadi, Coach: Mehmed Bečirovič
2019 China 1 Mozafari, 4 Mirzaei, 5 Mashayekhi, 6 Hosseinzadeh, 7 Hassanzadeh, 8 Yakhchali, 12 Zangeneh, 13 Jamshidi, 14 Bahrami, 15 Haddadi, 20 Rostampour, 23 Geramipoor, Coach: Mehran Shahintab