Mohammad Reza Ahmadi and Omid Hosseininejad represented the Islamic Republic in the categories of memorization of the entire Quran and recitation respectively.
They both failed to reach the final round of the international Quran contest, which is annually held during the holy month of Ramadan.
Ahmadi told IQNA last week that he was surprised at the outcome of the preliminary round as he “put forward one of my best performances.”
He said Hosseininejad was also worthy of being among the finalists and his exclusion even surprised the Bangladeshi member of the panel of judges.
Turkey’s 6th international Quran competition was held at Fateh Mosque in Istanbul on May 21-27.
As many as 50 memorizers and 60 reciters from 60 countries took part in the contest.