TEHRAN - Head of Iran’s National Paralympic Committee (NPC) Mahmoud Khosravi Vafa said that protecting the health of the Para athletes is a top priority for them.

Speaking during a webinar ran by Iran's National Paralympic Committee (NPC) on Monday, Khosravi Vafa said that the Para athletes should be able to compete in a safe environment.

“The health and safety of our athletes is important for us and we will not put their lives at risk for winning medal,” Khosravi Vafa said.

“The NPC will increase the number of training camps’ days and we're going to establish a solid health protocol to ensure that our athletes will train in a safe environment,” he added.

“Arrivals and departures of the coaches, athletes and the organizers during holding the training camps should be restricted to lower risk of Covid-19 infection,” Khosravi Vafa stated.

Iran sent a record 110 athletes to Rio 2016, returning eight golds, nine silvers and seven bronzes to finish 15th in the medals table.

Iran will send nine sports to Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, namely athletics, archery, sitting volleyball, wheelchair basketball, taekwondo, rowing, judo, shooting and powerlifting.

Reporting by Masoud Hossein