Iran men's national basketball team

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Iran women's national basketball team.

Iran

FIBA ranking	23 (26 November 2024)
Joined FIBA	1947
FIBA zone	FIBA Asia
National federation	IRIBF
Coach	Saeed Armaghani
Olympic Games
Appearances	3
Medals	None
FIBA World Cup
Appearances	3
Medals	None
FIBA Asia Cup
Appearances	18
Medals	Gold: (2007, 2009, 2013) Silver : (2017) Bronze : (2015)
Asian Games
Appearances	11
Medals	Silver :(2014, 2018) Bronze : (1951, 2006, 2010)
Home Away
Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd Asian Championship 3 1 1 Asian Games 0 2 3 Asian Cup 3 0 0

The Iranian national basketball team is controlled by the IR Iran Basketball Federation. Overall, the team won three out of the last five FIBA Asia Championship tournaments.

History

Photograph of the Iranian national team at the 1948 Summer Olympics.

The Iranian national team has had limited success on the international stage, with the most international experience being that of their 1948 Summer Olympics qualification, although they did not manage to make it past the group stage.

The team won the Bronze medal at the basketball competition of the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar.

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. 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 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 finished 1–4 in Group B, good for 19th place

2013 FIBA Asia Championship

Iran national team in 2021, during a time out in a friendly against Spain.

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 Championship

Iran's third FIBA Asia Championship gave them their second FIBA World Championship berth, at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

Tournament records

*Red border indicates that the tournament was hosted on home soil. Gold, silver, bronze backgrounds indicates 1st, 2nd and 3rd finishes respectively. Bold text indicates best finish in tournament. B or U18 indicates that the team was represented by its B or U18 team.

Summer Olympics

Main article: Basketball at the Summer Olympics

Year	Rank	Pld	W	L
1936	Did not enter
1948	14th place	7	2	5
1952	Did not enter
1956
1960
1964
1968
1972
1976
1980	Boycotted the event
1984
1988	Did not enter
1992	Did not qualify
1996
2000
2004
2008	11th place	5	0	5
2012	Did not qualify
2016
2020	12th place	3	0	3
2024	Future events
2028
2032
Total	3/20	15	2	13

World Cup

Main article: FIBA Basketball World Cup

Year	Rank	Pld	W	L
1950	Did not enter
1954
1959
1963
1967
1970
1974	Did not qualify
1978	Did not enter
1982	Did not qualify
1986
1990
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010	19th place	5	1	4
2014	20th place	5	1	4
2019	23rd place	5	2	3
2023	Future event
Total	3/18	15	4	11

FIBA Asia Cup

Main article: FIBA Asia Cup

Year	Position	Pld	W	L
Europe
1959	17th place	7	1	6
Asia
1960	Did not enter
1963
1965
1967
1969
1971
1973	5th place	10	4	6
1975	Did not enter
1977
1979
1981	8th place	7	3	4
1983	5th place	6	5	1
1985	8th place	6	2	4
1987	Did not enter
1989	5th place	7	4	3
1991	6th place	8	4	4
1993	4th place	6	4	2
1995	10th place	8	5	3
1997	8th place	7	3	4
1999	Did not qualify
2001
2003	5th place	7	4	3
2005	6th place	8	4	4
2007	Champions	8	7	1
2009	Champions	9	9	0
2011	5th place	9	8	1
2013	Champions	9	9	0
2015	3rd place	9	7	2
2017	Runners-up	6	5	1
2022	Qualified
Total	18/30	130	87	43

Asian Games

Main article: Basketball at the Asian Games

Year	Rank	Pld	W	L
1951	3rd place	4	2	2
1954	Did not enter
1958
1962
1966	7th place	7	3	4
1970	7th place	8	6	2
1974	6th place	7	3	4
1978	Did not enter
1982
1986
1990	7th place	6	3	3
1994	8th place	6	2	4
1998	7th place	6	2	4
2002	Did not enter
2006	3rd place	8	5	3
2010	3rd place	8	6	2
2014	Runners-up	7	6	1
2018	Runners-up	4	3	1
2022	Future events
2026
2030
2034
Total	11/18	71	41	30

FIBA Asia Challenge

Main article: FIBA Asia Challenge

Year	Rank	Pld	W	L
2004	Qualified but withdrew
2008
2010	6th place (B)	7	3	4
2012	Champions	7	7	0
2014	Champions	7	6	1
2016	Champions	8	8	0
Total	4/6	29	24	5

West Asian Championship

Main article: WABA Championship

Year	Rank	Pld	W	L
1999	4th place	4	1	3
2000	4th place	4	2	2
2001	3rd place	4	2	2
2002	Runners-up	4	3	1
2004	Champions	4	4	0
2005	Champions	4	4	0
2008	Did not enter
2010	Champions (B)	3	3	0
2011	Champions	3	3	0
2012	Runners-up	5	4	1
2013	Champions	3	3	0
2014	Runners-up (U18)	5	4	1
2015	Did not enter
2016	Champions	4	4	0
2017	Runners-up	5	4	1
Total	13/15	52	41	11

Other tournaments

• FIBA Diamond Ball
  • 2008 – 4th place
• West Asian Games
  • 1997 – Champions
  • 2002 – 5th place
• Islamic Solidarity Games
  • 2005 – 3rd place
• William Jones Cup
  • 2009 – Champions
  • 2010 – Champions
  • 2011 – Champions
  • 2013 – Champions
  • 2015 – Champions

Team

2020 Olympic roster

The roster was announced on 3 July 2021.

Iran men's national basketball team roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. G 3 Mohammadsina Vahedi 20 – (2001-01-08)8 January 2001 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Shahrdari Gorgan PG 5 Philip Jalalpoor 28 – (1993-06-14)14 June 1993 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Medi Bayreuth PF 7 Mohammad Hassanzadeh 30 – (1990-10-06)6 October 1990 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Palayesh Naft Abadan SF 8 Saeid Davarpanah 33 – (1987-09-07)7 September 1987 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Palayesh Naft Abadan G 13 Mohammad Jamshidi 29 – (1991-07-30)30 July 1991 1.99 m (6 ft 6 in) Shahrdari Gorgan SF 14 Samad Nikkhah Bahrami (C) 38 – (1983-05-11)11 May 1983 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Mahram Tehran C 15 Hamed Haddadi 36 – (1985-05-19)19 May 1985 2.18 m (7 ft 2 in) Sichuan Blue Whales SG 17 Navid Rezaeifar 24 – (1996-08-23)23 August 1996 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Shahrdari Gorgan PF 20 Mike Rostampour 29 – (1991-12-20)20 December 1991 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) Shahrdari Gorgan C 23 Aaron Geramipoor 28 – (1992-09-11)11 September 1992 2.14 m (7 ft 0 in) Manchester Giants PF 41 Arsalan Kazemi 31 – (1990-04-22)22 April 1990 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Chemidor Qom G 88 Behnam Yakhchali 26 – (1995-07-12)12 July 1995 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Rostock Seawolves	Head coach Mehran Shahintab Assistant coach(es) Mehrad Atashi Farzad Kouhian Legend Club – describes last club before the tournament Age – describes age on 25 July 2021

Head coaches

Note: The following list may not be complete

• Kazem Rahbari (1948)
• Hossein Soudipour (1966)
• George Chiraleu (1974)
• Mohammad Hassan Zolfaghari (1981)
• Enayatollah Atashi (1983)
• Reza Esmaeili (1985)
• Majid Towfigh (1989)
• Asadollah Kabir (1990)
• Valery Lunichkin (1991)
• Asadollah Kabir (1993)
• Vitali Zastakhov (1994)
• Manouchehr Shahamatnejad (1995)
• Ahmad Reza Elliin (1996)
• Saeid Fathi (1997)
• Enayatollah Atashi (1998)
• Gary LeMoine (2000–2001)
• Saeid Armaghani (2001–2002)
• Mehran Shahintab (2002)
• Nenad Trajković (2003)
• Mostafa Hashemi (2003)
• Vladimir Bošnjak (2004–2005)
• Mohammad Mehdi Izadpanah (2005)
• Fred Oniga (2006)
• Rajko Toroman (2007–2008)
• Veselin Matić (2009–2011)
• Memi Bečirovič (2012–2014)
• Dirk Bauermann (2015–2017)
• Mehran Hatami (2017)
• Mehran Shahintab (2018–2021)
• Mostafa Hashemi (2021–2022)
• Saeed Armaghani (2022–present)

External links

• Official website (in Persian)
• FIBA profile