{{Use American English|date = February 2019}} {{Short description|Football (soccer) league of Iran}} {{Infobox football league | name = Iran Football's 3rd Division | logo = | pixels = | country = {{flag|Iran}} | confed = [[Asian Football Confederation|AFC]] | founded = 2001 | divisions = [[Iran Football's 3rd Division|3]] | teams = [[2024-25 Iran Football's 3rd Division|36]] | promotion = [[ League 2 (Iran)|League 2]] | relegation = [[ League 4 (Iran)|League 4]] | levels = [[Iranian football league system#Current system|4]] | domest_cup = [[Hazfi Cup]] | confed_cup = | champions = | season =[[2025-26 Iran Football's 3rd Division|2025-26 Season]] | most successful club = | tv = [[Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting|IRIB]] | website = [https://www.persianlegaue.com persianlegaue] | current = [[2025-26 Iran Football's 3rd Division|2025-26 Season]] |organiser=[[Iran Football League Organization]]}}
'''Iranian football's 3rd division''' ({{langx|fa|ليگ دسته سوم ایران}}) is the fourth-highest [[football (soccer)|football]] division overall in the [[Iranian football league system]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=ایران |first=فدراسیون فوتبال جمهوری اسلامی |date= |title=اعلام نحوه صعود و سقوط تیم های در مرحله اول لیگ دسته سوم |url=http://the-ffiri.com/fa/news/18687 |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=fa |language=fa}}</ref>
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== * [[Iran's Premier Football League|IPL]] * [[Azadegan League]] * [[Iran Football's 2nd Division]] * [[Iranian Super Cup]] * [[Hazfi Cup]] * [[League 4 (Iran)]] * [[Iranian Futsal Super League]] * [[Iran Futsal's 1st Division]] * [[Iran Futsal's 2nd Division]]
==References== {{reflist}} [https://www.varzesh3.com/football/league/383/%D9%84%DB%8C%DA%AF-%D8%AF%D9%88-%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86] {{Football in Iran}} {{AFC Fourth leagues}} {{Iranian Sport leagues}}
[[Category:League 3 (Iran)| ]] [[Category:Football leagues in Iran|4]] [[Category:Fourth-level domestic association football leagues in Asia]] [[Category:Professional sports leagues in Iran]]