League 3 (Iran)

Iranian football's 3rd division (Persian: ليگ دسته سوم ایران) is the fourth-highest football division overall in the Iranian football league system.^[1]

Iran Football's 3rd Division

Founded	2001
Country	Iran
Confederation	AFC
Divisions	8
Number of teams	85
Level on pyramid	4
Promotion to	League 2
Relegation to	Provincial Leagues
Domestic cup(s)	Hazfi Cup
TV partners	IRIB
Current: 2022-23 Season

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.