League 3 (Iran)

Before 2001, the 3rd division league was the third-highest division in Iranian football league system, however, it became the fourth-highest division when Iran's football structure officially became professional.

The league consists of two stages. In the first stage, 65 teams participate in five groups of 13 teams each. The groups are organized in such a manner that teams closer to each other geographically end up in the same group. Because of this, the 3rd division can be considered a regional league. Stage one is played in single round-robin format and this is the only league organised by IRIFF which has no home-and-away format. Top two teams of each group promote to second stage and join 20 teams which already have spots due to their performance in the previous season. This means 85 different teams compete in 3rd division.

See also