TEHRAN – Iran eased past Netherlands 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 30-28) in Week 1 of 2021 Volleyball Nations League on Sunday.

Netherland’s Abdel-Aziz Nimir grabbed 11 points and Amirhossein Esfandiar scored 14 points for Iran.

It was Iran’s first win in the tournament after two defeats against Japan and Russia.

Vladimir Alekno’s side will play Canada, Italy and Bulgaria on June 3,4 and 5, respectively in Week 2.

16 teams are contesting the round-robin preliminaries, with the top four finishers to advance into the semifinals.

The third edition of the competition is being held from May 28 to June 27 in Rimini, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.