[3] Wrestling accounted for the largest number of athletes by an individual-based sport with 12 entries; there was only a single competitor each in archery, boxing, flatwater canoeing, rowing, and swimming.

The Iranian roster featured a number of past Olympic medalists, including discus thrower Ehsan Haddadi, who won the nation's first ever athletics medal with a silver, and four defending champions from London: weightlifter Behdad Salimi, and Greco-Roman wrestlers Hamid Sourian, Omid Norouzi, and Ghasem Rezaei.

[4] Consequently, Nemati's story and sporting success prompted her to lead the Iranian delegation as the nation's third female flag bearer in Olympic history during the opening ceremony.

Among the nation's medalists were taekwondo fighter Kimia Alizadeh, who became the first Iranian woman to stand on the podium by taking the bronze, and weightlifter Kianoush Rostami, who bested his runner-up feat from London, lifting a new world record for gold in the men's 85 kg category.

Sabre fencers Ali Pakdaman and 2012 Olympian Mojtaba Abedini had claimed their spots on the Iranian team by finishing among the top 14 individuals in the FIE Adjusted Official Rankings.

Farzan Ashourzadeh, Mehdi Khodabakhshi, and Sajjad Mardani qualified automatically for their respective weight classes by finishing in the top 6 WTF Olympic rankings.

[citation needed] Meanwhile, Kimia Alizadeh was the only Iranian female finishing among the top two in the women's lightweight category (57 kg) at the 2016 Asian Qualification Tournament in Manila, Philippines.

[24] Head coach: Raúl Lozano Iranian weightlifters have qualified five men's quota places for the Rio Olympics based on their combined team standing by points at the 2014 and 2015 IWF World Championships.