The Olympic gold medalist was defeated against his Japanese rival 7-4 in the competition got underway in Astana, Kazakhstan.
The Iranian 59kg Greco-Roman wrestler has still chance to earn berth in two upcoming events which will be held at Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia) in April and Istanbul (Turkey) in May.
Omid Noroozi in 66kg, Komeil Ghasemi in 125kg and Bashir Babajanzadeh in 130kg will also represent Iran in the competition.
The tourney will be contested over three days, March 18-20, with competition in two weight categories of each of the three Olympic Games disciplines on display each day.
The top two wrestlers in each weight category will win berths for their national Olympic committees for the wrestling competition in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janiero, August 14-21.