TEHRAN - Iranian Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Masoud Soltanifar says that they want to move one place up in the 2018 Asian Games.

The Iranian delegation came fifth in the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea behind China, South Korea, Japan and Kazakhstan.

Now, the Iranian minister says they are going to improve their previous ranking in the upcoming Asian games.

“We have a busy year ahead of us. First, we will take part in the 2018 World Cup and we want to book a place in the knockout stage for the first time.

“We know it will be a difficult task but we will do our best to provide facilities for Team Melli to qualify for the second round,” Soltanifar said in an interview with msy.gov.ir.

Iran will participate at the 2018 Asian Games as the strongest West Asian country. Soltanifar says they want a better place in the 18th edition.

“We will vie with Indonesia, Thailand and Kazakhstan to finish in the fourth place in the competition,” the minister added.