[1] Since the nation's return in 1948 after having made their debut in 1900, Iranian athletes have attended every edition of the Summer Olympic Games, with the exception of 1980 and 1984 which they boycotted.

One Iranian archer qualified for the men's individual recurve by advancing to the semifinal stage and obtaining one of the three available spots at the 2019 Asian Championships in Bangkok, Thailand.

[2] Iranian athletes further achieved the entry standards, either by qualifying time or by world ranking, in the following track and field events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event):[3][4] Iranian women's badminton player, Sorayya Aghaei, got the allocation quotas from the Badminton World Federation after Airi Mikkela withdrew.

[5] Iran men's basketball team qualified for the Olympics as the highest-ranked Asian squad at the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China, marking the country's return to the sport after a twelve-year absence.

[10] Iran qualified a single boat (men's K-1 1000 m) for the Games by winning the gold medal at the 2021 Asian Canoe Sprint Qualification Regatta in Pattaya, Thailand.

[14][15] Iran qualified one boat in the women's single sculls for the Games by winning the silver medal and securing the second of five berths available at the 2021 FISA Asia & Oceania Olympic Qualification Regatta in Tokyo, Japan.

Rio 2016 Olympian Nima Alamian scored a zonal-match triumph for Central Asia to book a men's singles spot at the Asian Qualification Tournament in Doha, Qatar.

Armin Hadipour (men's 58 kg) qualified directly for their respective weight classes by finishing among the top five, while Mirhashem Hosseini received a spare berth freed up by the 2019 World Grand Slam winner in the men's lightweight category (68 kg), as the next highest-placed taekwondo practitioner, not yet qualified, in the WT Olympic Rankings.

On the women's side, Nahid Kiani scored a semifinal victory in the lightweight category (57 kg) to book the remaining spot on the Iranian taekwondo squad at the 2021 Asian Qualification Tournament in Amman, Jordan.