One year after the victory of the 1979 Revolution, Islamic Republic of Iran Sports Federation for the Disabled was established as one of the national federations under the auspices of the Physical Education Organization and started its activities with six sports to help male and female athletes gain the enjoyable experience of entering the world of sports for the first time.
Over the course of time, I.R. Iran’s Sports Federation for the Disabled became a member of International Federations (IFs) and associations such as the International Stoke Mandeville Wheelchair Sports Federation (ISMWSF), Cerebral Palsy International Sports and Recreation Association (CPISRA), International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA), International Sports Federation of the Disabled (ISOD), International Sports Federation for Persons with Intellectual Disability (INAS), the World Organization Volleyball for the Disabled (WOVD), and International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF).
The conditions for participation in the competitions organized by these organizations and federations allowed our athletes to gain invaluable experiences from competing in a global context.
The considerable support of the Supreme Leader, government, people, and mass media for the successful performance of athletes in the national and international events provided the grounds for the development of other sports, which was steadily gaining impetus and was attracting athletes over the next two decades.
The participation of Iranian delegates in Seoul 1988 Paralympic Games, Barcelona 1992 Paralympic Games, Atlanta 1996 Paralympic Games, the 1998 Winter Paralympics, and Sydney 2000 Paralympics are among the most important events in which Iranian elite athletes in sitting volleyball, athletics, powerlifting, shooting, tennis, goalball, archery and alpine skiing demonstrated their skills and talents against other competitors.
The IPC paid due attention to
the formation of the National Paralympic Committee in Iran. Dr. Robert Steadward,
the first President of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) was invited
by Mahmoud Khosravi Vafa in 1998 for an official visit to get a first-hand
account of I.R. Iran NPC’s remarkable development in promoting the Paralympic
Movement. Dr. Steadward’s meetings with the Islamic Consultative Assembly, Iran’s Vice-President and head of the Physical Education Organization and President of
the National Olympic Committee paved the way for taking necessary measures to
prepare the statute of the National Paralympic Committee by the NOC. In 2001,
the statute was officially approved by the Executive Board. The National
Paralympic Committee was buoyed up and financially supported by the National Olympic
Committee the same year.
The National Paralympic
Committee was practically set up in the wake of becoming increasingly active and
financially supporting male and female Paralympic athletes and organizing their
activities. Over the years, frequent luncheons and formal receptions welcomed
by the Supreme Leader, Iranian presidents, parliament speakers, heads of
Physical Education Organization and the National Olympic Committee have acknowledged
athletes for their performance and appreciated their high-impact social
influence.
The first NPC general and Election
assembly was held on February 5th, 2001. The Committee then moved to
Zartosht Building in downtown Tehran on June 13th, 2001. Yet,
attempts to compile oral history of I.R. Iran NPC and the whole series of past
events connected with Paralympic sports, medalists, most iconic photos and
videos and creative works of art were seriously taken care of and acted upon by
the National Paralympic Committee through gathering, preserving and interpreting
the memoirs and the voices of people, communities, and participants in the past
Paralympic events.
In 2016, the Law on the
Abstraction of I.R. Iran NPC (as an independent public entity) from NOC was
ratified by the Islamic Consultative Assembly and was notified forthwith to the
National Paralympic Committee by the President.
In 2017 and after abstraction
from NOC, the first independent budget of the NPC was drawn up and allocated by
the Plan and Budget Organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Three important sporting
bodies participated in establishing the National Museum of Sports, Olympics and
Paralympics in 2016. The National Olympic Committee proposed the idea of
preparing and compiling the oral history of sports in 2017. Since then, Iran’s
Sports Oral History Policymaking Council was formed and held meetings with all
three constituencies and relevant centers.