France defeated Iran in straight sets (25-21, 25-17, 25-20) in Manila, the Philippines.
Jean Patry scored 16 points for France, while Milad Ebadipour collected 10 points.
Team Melli is to face Germany on Sunday.
The VNL Preliminary Phase features three competition weeks per gender, with each of the 16 teams playing 12 matches. The seven best-ranked national teams in the Preliminary Phase will join hosts Poland for the Finals, which will be held in Lodz from June 27 to 30.