TEHRAN - Iran’s junior weightlifting squad departed for Egypt to compete in the 2026 World Junior Weightlifting Championships — marking the second time the team is led by Olympic and World Champion Sohrab Moradi.

The 2026 Junior World Weightlifting Championships have started o May 2 in Ismailia, Egypt, and will run until May 8.

Iran’s lineup includes Amirmohammad Rahmati and Mohammadamin Dadvand in the 88 kg category, Hamidreza Zarei and Mohammadamin Habibi in 94 kg, Abolfazl Zare and Farhad Gholizadeh in 110 kg, and Hamidreza Mohammadi-Tanha alongside Taha Nemati-Moghadam in the +110 kg category.

Iran has recorded seven world titles in junior weightlifting history. The most recent came in Lima, Peru (2025), when Sohrab Moradi, in his first coaching experience, guided Team Iran to victory with an exceptional haul of eight gold, eight silver, and three bronze medals.

Team Iran has previously claimed the world junior title in: 2011 (Kourosh Bagheri), 2016 (Vahid Rabiei and Faraz Ramhormozi), 2017 (Mohammadhossein Barkhah), 2018 (Hamid Rashidi), 2019 (Mohsen Beiranvand), 2023 (Hadi Panzovan) and 2025 (Sohrab Moradi).

Should Iran defend their title this year, Sohrab Moradi would become the first coach in Iranian history to lead the junior national team to back‑to‑back world championships.

The event in Ismailia marks the 51st edition of the World Junior Championships. The inaugural competition was held in 1975 in Marseille, France, with Iran making its debut under coach Reza Esteki, featuring nine lifters.

Iran’s first ever combined total medal at the junior world level was won by Behnam Azar Majidi in 1982 in São Paulo, Brazil, where she lifted a total of 327.5 kg in the 100 kg category, earning bronze.

Later, Kourosh Bagheri became the first Iranian to secure a junior world gold medal in total, lifting 352.5 kg in the 83 kg class at the 1997 Cape Town Championships in South Africa.