The Iranian team defeated Bahrain 3-0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-18) on Wednesday at the Isa Sport City Hall C in Manama.
Iran will face Brazil in the competition’s semis Thursday night.
“Iran had much respect for us by using their starting six players and they also wanted to finish the match in a short time. Iran is a very strong team. We started by just playing point by point. We made some errors especially with strong pressure from their serves. But Iran is a team that knows very well when to start its runs,” Khalifa said.
“We will fight for each chance to have the best place in the championship,” he added.