Igor Kolakovic’s men defeated Italy 3-2 (25-19, 23-25, 28-26, 29-31, 15-11) in Nagoya, Japan.
Amir Ghafour registered 21 points to lead the Iranian offence, while Filippo Lanza made points to command the Italian side.
Iran will play USA on Wednesday.
The 2017 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Grand Champions Cup is the 7th staging of the FIVB Volleyball World Grand Champions Cup, a quadrennial international men's volleyball tournament organized by the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB).
The tournament is being held in Nagoya and Osaka, Japan on September 12 to 17, 2017, with the participation of 6 national teams.