AFC - HOSTS Kuwait endured an early barrage of attack from Iran before striker Bashar Abdallah fired an impressive brace to help Kuwait claim a morale-boosting 3-1 win over the visitors.
In a match that was played as part of Kuwait's recognition for longtime playmaker Bader Hajji, Branko Ivankovic suffered his first ever defeat as Iranian head coach while the Kuwaitis notched an important win after losing 8-0 away at Portugal last month.
The match began well for the visitors as Iranian starlet Javad Kazemian's free-kick seemed destined for the net after just 60 seconds played but Kuwait goalkeeper Shihab Kankouni was well positioned to push the ball into touch.
Three minutes later, Alireza Nikbakht also came close to scoring against Kuwait but once again, Kankouni was on hand to deny the vibrant Iranian start.
With Iran slowly fizzling out of the game, Kuwait began to take control and gave a real sign of what was in store when Bashar fired just wide after 20 minutes.
Kuwait then broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute, with a cool Bashar making no mistake from the penalty spot.
Iranian Moharram Navidkiya thought that he had leveled the match on the half hour mark but to his dismay, the referee disallowed his effort as he was deemed to have handled the ball before burying it into the corner of the Kuwait net.
That was ample warning for Kuwait that their one goal lead was never going to be enough and the hosts responded in the best way possible three minutes later.
There seemed no danger whatsoever after Bashar had collected the ball in midfield but the experienced stalwart, smelling an opening if there ever was one, began to stride up field and fired in a superb individual effort to make the score 2-0.
Iran tried to claw their way back into the match but Ali Daei and Kazemian both shot agonizingly wide towards the end of the opening period.
Just as they had finished the first-half, Iran came out of the break firing on all cylinders but a third goal from Kuwait in the 63rd minute effectively killed the contest, Kuwait defender Walid Ali curling the ball from a free-kick to send a real signal of intent to the other teams competing at the Gulf Cup later this month.
As if not content with single-handedly holding the Iranian attack at bay, Kankouni continued to deny the visitors by saving Daei's 70th minute shot before pushing another header by Amir Vaziri out to safety.
The Iranian finally scored a consolation goal in the 77th minute, Daei heading home a cross from Alireza Nikbakht to notch his 87th international goal for Iran.
Kuwait: Shihab Kankouni, Khaled Shimeri (Musaed Abdullah), Fawaz Bekhit, Ali Abdelrida, Samer Marta, Khaled Abdulkudous, Walid Ali, Ali Shimali, Musaed Nada (Ali Namash), Bader Mutawa (Abdullah Nahar), Bashar Abdallah.
Iran: Ibrahim Mirzapour, Ibrahim Tagipour, Mehdi Amirabadi, Jalal Kamalifar, Alireza Nikbakht, Mohammad Nosrati (Hamed Kavianpour), Moharram Navidkiya (Amir Vaziri), Javad Nekonam, Javad Kazemian, Ali Karimi, Ali Daei.