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 The FIBA Asia Cup (formerly the FIBA Asia Championship and ABC Championship) is an international basketball tournament which takes place every four years between the men's national teams of Asia and Oceania. Through the 2015 edition, the tourna ...

tournaments.

History

The Iranian national team has had limited success on the international stage, with the most international experience being that of their

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

qualification, although they did not manage to make it past the group stage. The team won the

Bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

at the basketball competition of the

2006 Asian Games 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

2007 FIBA Asia Championship

Placed in the dreaded "Group of Death" alongside

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, and

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

, 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 "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One-China principle stipulated by th ...

and

, and then routed

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

, 75–62, in the semifinals. The Iranians then beat

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

74–69, with

Hamed Haddadi Hamed Ehdadi Haddadi ( fa, حامد حدادی, , born May 19, 1985) is an Iranian professional basketball player for Sichuan Blue Whales of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He plays at the center position and is 7'2" (2.18 meters) tall a ...

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 The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

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 Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, suffering five defeats. The Olympic experience opened doors for players such as Hamed Haddadi, and Iranian

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Samad Nikkhah Bahrami Mohammad Samad Nikkhah Bahrami ( fa, محمدصمد نیکخواه بهرامی, born 11 May 1983) is an Iranian peoples, Iranian professional basketball player. Pro career He previously played for Saba Battery BC, Saba Battery as a subsidiary pl ...

to play in the NBA (National Basketball Association) and sign in the top

French League The French League (: "French League for purging, mutual aid and European collaboration") was a collaborationist French movement founded by Pierre Costantini in September 1940. Its journal was entitled '' L'Appel''. Bibliography * Pierre Phi ...

. 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

when he put up 21 points and 16 rebounds.

2009 FIBA Asia Championship

Winning the FIBA Asia Championship 2009 at

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...

, was a sign on continuing progress in basketball. Iran defeated

, 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 2010 FIBA World Championship was the 16th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship contested by the men's national teams. The tournament ran from 28 August to 12 September 2010. It was co-organised by the Inte ...

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

2013 FIBA Asia Championship

Selección de baloncesto de Irán vs España en 2021

Winning the

2013 FIBA Asia Championship The 2013 FIBA Asia Championship for Men was the intercontinental championship for basketball organized by FIBA Asia that served as the qualifying tournament for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain. The tournament was held from August 1–1 ...

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

, 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 The 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup was the 17th edition of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, the tournament previously known as the FIBA World Championship. Hosted by Spain, it was the last tournament to be held on the then-current four-year cycle ...

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

World Cup

FIBA Asia Cup

Asian Games

FIBA Asia Challenge

West Asian Championship

Other tournaments

FIBA Diamond Ball The FIBA Diamond Ball competition was an official international basketball tournament organised by FIBA,http://www.fiba.basketball/en/events FIBA´s official events by year held every Olympic year prior to the Summer Olympics. The first tournamen ...

** 2008 – 4th place * Islamic Solidarity Games **

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

– 3rd place * West Asian Games **

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

– Champions ** 2002 – 5th place *

William Jones Cup The R. William Jones Cup (), also known as the Jones Cup, is an international basketball tournament organized by the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association (CTBA) held annually since 1977 in Taiwan. It was named in honor of basketball promoter ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

– Champions **

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

– Champions **

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

– Champions **

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

– Champions **

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

– Champions

Team

2020 Olympic roster

Head coaches

Note: The following list may not be complete *

Kazem Rahbari Kazem (also spelled Kadhem, Kadhim, Kazim, Qazim or Cathum; written in ar, كاظم, in Persian: کاظِم) means "tolerant", "forgiving", and "having patience" is an Arabic male given name. Although the pronunciation of the Arabic letter Ẓ ...

(1948) *

Hossein Soudipour Hossein Soudipour ( fa, حسین صعودی‌پور) (21 March 1922 – 13 September 2017) was a medical doctor and former basketball player and head coach of Iran's national basketball team. He was the former director of Iran's minis ...

(1966) *

George Chiraleu George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd President ...

(1974) *

Mohammad Hassan Zolfaghari Mohammad Hassan Zolfaghari (well known as Amoo Hassan) was an Iran national basketball team, Iranian professional basketball player (1967–1971) and Iran's Head coach (1981). He played as the forward position. Zolfagari was also the head coach of ...

(1981) *

Enayatollah Atashi Enayatollah Atashi ( fa, عنایت‌الله آتشی , born July 23, 1946, in jahrom) is an Iranian basketball coach.Reza Esmaeili (1985) *

Majid Towfigh Majid or majeed may refer to: * , ''majīd'' 'majestic', and , ''mājid'' 'magnificent', two names of God in Islam Arts and entertainment * ''Majid'' (film), a 2010 Moroccan film * Majid (rapper) (born 1975), a Danish rapper of Moroccan-Berber ori ...

(1989) *

Asadollah Kabir Asadullāh ( ar, أَسَدُ ٱلله), also written Asadollah, Assadullah or Asad Ullah, is a male Muslim given name meaning ''Lion of Allah''. The name was initially used to refer to the Islamic Prophet Muhammad's closest kinsmen Ali and Hamz ...

(1990) *

Valery Lunichkin The French name Valery () is a male given name or surname of Germanic origin ''Walaric'' (see Walric of Leuconay), that has often been confused in modern times with the Latin name ''Valerius''—that explains the variant spelling Valéry (). The S ...

(1991) *

(1993) *

Vitali Zastakhov Vitali, Vitalii, Vitaly, Vitaliy and may refer to: People Given name * Vitaly Borker (born 1975 or 1976), Ukrainian American Internet fraudster and cyberbully * Vitaly Churkin (1952–2017), Russian politician * Vitaly Ginzburg (1916–2009), Russ ...

(1994) *

Manouchehr Shahamatnejad Manuchehr, Manuchar, Manuchihr, or Manouchehr ( fa, منوچهر, ''Manūčehr'', Old Persian: Manōčihr, Avestan: Manuščiθra) is a Persian male given name meaning "Heaven's face". It consists of two parts ''Manu (Manou),'' which means "Heaven" ...

(1995) *

Ahmad Reza Elliin Ahmad ( ar, أحمد, ʾAḥmad) is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other spellings of the name include Ahmed and Ahmet. Etymology The word derives from the root (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from the ve ...

(1996) * Saeid Fathi (1997) *

Enayatollah Atashi Enayatollah Atashi ( fa, عنایت‌الله آتشی , born July 23, 1946, in jahrom) is an Iranian basketball coach.Gary LeMoine Gary may refer to: *Gary (given name), a common masculine given name, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name *Gary, Indiana, the largest city named Gary Places ;Iran *Gary, Iran, Sistan and Baluchestan Province ;Unit ...

(2000–2001) * Saeid Armaghani (2001–2002) *

Mehran Shahintab Mehran Shahintab (born March 21, 1966 Kermanshah) is an Iranian professional basketball coach.

(2002) *

Nenad Trajković Nenad Trajković ( sr-cyr, Ненад Трајковић; born Naser Trajković; 10 February 1961), is a Serbian basketball coach. Early life Naser Trajković ( sr-cyr, Насер Трајковић) was born in Belgrade, SR Serbia, SFR Yugos ...

(2003) *

Mostafa Hashemi Mostafa Hashemi (Born 1962) is an Iranian basketball coach. He was a player of Iran men's national basketball team, Iran national basketball team, also coach of Mahram Tehran BC, Mahram Basketball club, Chemidor Tehran BC and assistant coach of Ir ...

(2003) *

Vladimir Bošnjak Vladimir may refer to: Names * Vladimir (name) for the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian spellings of a Slavic name * Uladzimir for the Belarusian version of the name * Volodymyr for the Ukra ...

(2004–2005) *

Mohammad Mehdi Izadpanah Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, divinely inspired to preach and ...

(2005) *

Fred Oniga Fredrick Femi Oniga is a Nigerian basketball coach. In 2011 he coached the Applied Science University (ASU) from Jordan in the 2011 FIBA Asia Champions Cup. Teams coached * Niger Potters * Al Jalaa (2001) * Nigeria national basketball team ...

(2006) * Rajko Toroman (2007–2008) *

Veselin Matić Veselin Matić ( sr-cyrl, Веселин Матић; born July 21, 1960) also known by his nickname Toza, is a Serbian professional basketball coach. He is currently the head coach of India men's national basketball team. Personal life His so ...

(2009–2011) *

Memi Bečirovič Mehmed "Memi" Bečirovič (born 1 March 1961) is a Slovenian professional basketball coach. He currently serves as the head coach for the Nanjing Monkey Kings of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He was the head coach of the Slovenia nat ...

(2012–2014) *

Dirk Bauermann Dirk Bauermann (born 10 December 1957) is a German professional basketball coach. Playing career Bauermann played club basketball in the German senior club of BBC Krefeld, from 1975 to 1981. Club coaching career Bauermann was an assistant coach ...

(2015–2017) *

Mehran Hatami Mehran Hatami is an Iranian basketball coach of the Iran national basketball team, Iranian national team, which he coached at the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup. A former member of Team Melli in the Asian Games and FIBA Championships during the 1990's, Hatami ...

(2017) *

Mehran Shahintab Mehran Shahintab (born March 21, 1966 Kermanshah) is an Iranian professional basketball coach.

(2018–2021) *

(2021–2022) *

Saeed Armaghani Saeed Armaghani (born in 1962) is an Iranian- Hungarian professional basketball coach and former player. As a player, Armaghani played as a point guard for MAFC Budapest during the 1988–89 season. Teams coached * Iran national basketball team ...

(2022–present)

References

External links

*
FIBA profile
{{National sports teams of Iran Men's national basketball teams 1947 establishments in Iran