In the match held in Tehran’s Azadi Stadium, substitute Omid Alishah opened Esteghlal’s goal with a powerful shot but Esteghlal winger Kevin Yamga leveled the score from the penalty spot in the injury time.
The video assistant referee (VAR) used in Tehran derby for the first time.
Earlier in the day, Sepahan defeated Foolad 3-1 in Isfahan, thanks to goals from Farshad Ahmadzadeh, Shahriar Moghanlou and Kaveh Rezaei.
Adel Arghans scored the visiting team’s sole goal.
Esteghlal leads IPL table with 25 points, one point above Sepahan, who has one game in hand.
Persepolis also is third with 21 points.