The 28-year-old triumphed with a total of 461kg at the Jakarta International Expo yesterday, managing 208kg in the snatch and 253kg in the clean and jerk.

"I am very happy to end my career with a gold medal," Salimikordasiabi was reported as saying by the Tehran Times.

"I wanted to make room for the young weightlifters.

"I fought so hard to win this medal and thank God for winning the gold."

Fellow Iranian Saeid Alihosseini finished second with 456kg, while Uzbekistan's Rustam Djangabaev came third with 455kg.

Salimikordasiabi is a two-time world champion, topping the podium in 2010 and 2011, and also won Olympic gold at London 2012.

His victory here came after Asian Games triumphs at Guangzhou 2010 and Incheon 2014.

Salimikordasiabi set a snatch world record of 214kg at the 2011 World Championships in Paris. 

He bettered it with 216kg at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, where he also completed a clean and jerk lift that was approved by all three referees before being controversially disqualified by the jury.

The current snatch world record of 220kg is held by Georgia’s Lasha Talakhadze, who Salimikordasiabi was expected to challenge at this year’s World Championships.

The Championships are scheduled to take place in Turkmenistan’s capital Ashgabat from November 1 to 10.