Younus Mahmood had given the defending champions a 13th-minute lead but goals from Gholam Reza Rezaei and Iman Mobali ensured Iran got off to a winning start in Group D.

"I would like first to dedicate this victory to the families who lost their relatives in the air crash. The players tried their best to get the win as a sign of condolence for those families," he said.

"Football is only a sport and if we can do something special then we are happy about that."

Ghotbi added that although he always expected the encounter to prove tricky for his men, he felt they had enough quality throughout the side to overhaul their neighbours once they had fallen behind.

"The game was complicated for us because of the rivalry between the two sides and also it was the first match of the tournament, while Iraq are the defending champions," he added.

"After going one down, I was confident that we could come back. I have experience of playing against Iraq and they are the masters of killing time so I thought that if we scored before half-time then we had a chance to win."

Iraq boss Wolfgang Sidka, meanwhile, felt his side were worth at least a point after letting slip a one-goal lead.

"I think that Iran played very well and it was a match of the same level. We created some chances and for me it was a 50/50 game," said the German.

"However, what we missed today was ball retention and it was difficult to pass the ball around because Iran put pressure on us in the second half.

"It was a good end for Iran but the goal that we conceded was from an unnecessary foul and we knew before the match that they were dangerous from free-kicks."