Iran’s Morteza Sharifi scored 20 points and China’s Yu Yuantai and Zhang Jingyin scored 16 points each.
Iran is scheduled to meet the Netherlands on Friday.
The Volleyball Nations League was launched as a new competition in 2018 and ever since has been the annual meeting point for the top teams in the world.
The competition begins with a Preliminary Round to be played over six competition weeks, with women and men taking their turns every other week in racing for the spots in the Finals.