Mehdi Attar Ashrafi was an Asian Games medallist ©Getty Images

Mehdi Attar Ashrafi, as Asian Games medallist in weightlifting for Iran, has died aged 72.

Attar Ashrafi won a bronze medal in the men’s under-75 kilograms contest at Tehran 1974.

Attar Ashrafi had the second-best clean and jerk, third-best snatch and third-best total, behind Japan’s Etsuo Mitsuishi and the North Korean winner, An Won-geun.

Iranian athletes won a record 81 medals on home soil, with the country finishing second in the medals table.

Mehdi Attar Ashrafi took part in the Montreal 1976 Olympic Games ©Getty Images
Mehdi Attar Ashrafi took part in the Montreal 1976 Olympic Games ©Getty Images

Two years later, he competed at the Montreal 1976 Olympics, finishing 13th in the same weight category.

Attar Ashrafi went on to win a silver medal at the 1979 Asian Weightlifting Championships, held in Tokyo.

Tehran Times reports that Attar Ashrafi’s death followed a lengthy illness.