Talks between the countries about signing a cooperation agreement had started last December when representatives from Iran visited Zagreb.

COC President Zlatko Mateša travelled to Tehran to sign the official MoU.

He was welcomed by Iran NOC President Reza Salehi Amiri in the meeting and they predicted a bright future for sports cooperation between the two parties.

Mateša also held a meeting with Iran's Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Masoud Soltanifar.

During the visit, he presented a football shirt to Soltanifar emblazoned with his name and the number 10, the same as that worn by Croatian and Real Madrid star Luka Modric.

"We look forward to deepening cooperation and building stronger ties between Iran and Croatia," Soltanifar told the Tehran Times.

Soltanifar added: "Iran can help Croatia in sports including weightlifting, taekwondo, wrestling, karate and wushu, and Croatia is a sporting powerhouse in athletics, gymnastics, swimming and water polo. 

"We have to promote the exchange of programmes, experiences, skills and knowledge to support our athletes."

Mateša claimed Croatia is looking forward to further strengthening the bilateral cooperation with Iran.

"We are here to boost sports collaboration between two countries," he told the Tehran Times.

"We can exchange coaches and athletes and hold seminars in sports education. 

"Branko Ivanković [coach of Iran football club Persepolis coach] is one of the popular sports characters in Croatia and we are happy there is a connection between two nations by football."

Mateša also met officials from Iran's Basketball and Handball Federations and signed an MoU with both of them to boost cooperation in these sports.