TEHRAN – A rally racing competition for women of Muslim countries will be held this year in the city of Tabriz, northwestern Iran, CEO of Motorcycle & Automobile Federation of Iran said Sunday.

Iran has been chosen as the host country for the event, scheduled to be held in September, Mehr quoted Mahmoud Seydanlou, the head of Iran's Motorcycle and Automobile Federation, as saying.

Negotiations with the president of Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (International Automobile Federation-FIA) have been fruitful, and Tabriz has been selected to host the competition due to its status as the Islamic Tourism Capital in 2018, he added.

After years of hiatus, Iran will also host a round of Middle East rally racing in the current year, Seydanlou added.

Iran will also hold a round of motocross competitions as approved by the Asian Automobile Federation, he added.

“Iran and a number of neighboring and Asian countries cannot take part in Formula One and Formula Two car racing, therefore the Asian Automobile Federation has provided the chance that each of these countries, including Iran, Azerbaijan and Turkey, to host each round of these competitions on the regional level,” he added.

NM/MQ/MG