Mehdi Taremi (born 18 July 1992) is an Iranian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Super League Greece club Olympiacos and the Iran national team.
A late bloomer, he began his career at Shahin Bushehr and Iranjavan, and then played for Persepolis between 2014 and 2018; he was Persian Gulf Pro League top scorer on two occasions (2015âÂÂ16 and 2016âÂÂ17). He played for Qatari side Al-Gharafa between 2018 and 2019, before joining Rio Ave in Portugal, with whom he was Primeira Liga joint-top scorer in 2019âÂÂ20. In 2020, he moved to fellow Portuguese side FC Porto and won the domestic double in 2021âÂÂ22. He went on to continue this success in the 2022âÂÂ23 season by finishing as the top goal scorer in the league and winning a domestic cup double of Taça de Portugal and Taça da Liga. After a short spell at Inter Milan, with which he reached the 2025 UEFA Champions League final, he signed for Greek powerhouse Olympiacos.
Taremi made his first senior appearance in 2015, and represented Iran at the FIFA World Cup in 2018 and 2022, and the AFC Asian Cup in 2019 and 2023.
Mehdi Taremi was born on 18 July 1992 in Bushehr, Iran. He is the third and youngest child of his family. His father Alishah Taremi was an amateur footballer who played in local leagues. His older brother Mohammad is also a football player.
Taremi started his career with Bargh Bushehr's Academy before moving on to Iranjavan's Youth Academy.
Taremi joined Shahin Bushehr in the summer of 2010. He played seven games and scored one goal in all competitions. In the winter of 2012, he was released by Shahin Bushehr to spend his conscription period in a military club, but he failed to join a club and was forced to spend his conscription period in a usual garrison.
Taremi joined Iranjavan in the summer of 2013 and signed a two-year contract until the end of the 2014âÂÂ15 season and was given the number 9. Taremi scored 12 times in 22 matches in 2013âÂÂ14, and became the league's second top scorer after Mokhtar Jomehzadeh.
After becoming the Azadegan League's top scorer, Taremi had offers from many teams. He joined Persepolis in the summer of 2014 and signed a two-year contract through June 2016.
Taremi made his debut in 1âÂÂ1 draw with Naft Tehran, coming as a substitute for Reza Norouzi in 90th minute. He scored his first goal for the club on 15 August 2014 in a 1âÂÂ0 victory over Zob Ahan. On 8 April 2015 Taremi scored a penalty in Persepolis 1âÂÂ0 win in the Asian Champions League over Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr. He scored many goals for the club, and provided quality assists to win the Best Striker Award of the 14th Persian Gulf Pro League at the end of the 2014âÂÂ15 season.
Taremi missed the first week of the new season due to suspension, but in his first game back on 6 August 2015, he scored in a 2âÂÂ1 loss to Esteghlal Khuzestan. Taremi scored twice in a 2âÂÂ0 week five win against Foolad. This was Persepolis' first win of the season and lifted them out of the relegation spot. Taremi's good performances in the month of August earned him the Navad player of the month as voted by fans. On 18 December 2015, Taremi scored a brace against Rah Ahan in Persepolis' 2âÂÂ0 victory. He ended the first half of the league as top scorer with nine goals in 12 games.
On 4 April 2016, Taremi scored a brace in a 3âÂÂ2 victory against Siah Jamegan to keep Persepolis in third place. On 12 April 2016, Taremi was in talks to extend his contract to the end of the 2017âÂÂ18 season. But eventually, he decided not to renew his contract. On 15 April 2016, Taremi scored a brace in Persepolis' historic 4âÂÂ2 victory over Esteghlal in the Tehran derby. He became the league's top scorer with 16 goals at the end of the season; despite his good performances, his team failed to win the title at the last week.
Before the start of the new season, Taremi announced that he would not extend his contract, to join to a European team. In July 2016, it was reported that Taremi was linked to Süper Lig team ÃÂaykur Rizespor. The move was cancelled after Taremi returned to Iran and signed a two-year contract with Persepolis. He played his first match for Persepolis in 1âÂÂ0 win over Saipa, replaced Omid Alishah in 77th minute. He also scored his first goal of the season in week 4 against Saba Qom. He scored a brace in 3âÂÂ1 away win over Sepahan At the end of the season, the club celebrated its tenth Iran Pro League title, and Taremi became top scorer for a second consecutive season with 18 goals.
On 8 May 2017, Taremi scored a decisive hat trick against Emirati side Al Wahda in a 4âÂÂ2 win to help his team qualify for the Round of 16 of the 2017 AFC Champions League. After his good performances, Taremi was linked with Dinamo Zagreb.
Taremi played seven games, scoring on four occasions. During the 2017âÂÂ18 season, Taremi was banned for four months because of a contract dispute with Turkish club ÃÂaykur Rizespor dating back to June 2016, when the player reached an agreement to join the club and later returned to Persepolis. Persepolis were also banned from signing players for two transfer windows. FIFA ruled in favor of the Turkish club and imposed the ban.
On 8 January 2018, Taremi signed an 18-month contract with the Qatari club Al-Gharafa. He scored his first goal in the first match of 2018 AFC Champions League against UAE's Al Jazira. Taremi first scored goal in Qatar League against Al Kharaitiyat on 16 February. On 19 February, he scored a brace against Iranian side Tractor Sazi on the second matchday of the AFC Champions League.
On 23 July 2019, Taremi signed a two-year contract with Portuguese football club Rio Ave. Taremi scored a hat-trick in his first Primeira Liga start for the club on 23 August 2019 in a match against Aves. On 31 August, Taremi won his side three penalties in their match against Sporting CP, all on fouls committed by Sebastián Coates, as Rio Ave won 3âÂÂ2.
Taremi finished his first season with 18 goals, joint top with Benfica pair Pizzi and Carlos VinÃÂcius; the latter won the official Bola da Prata trophy for playing the fewest minutes of the three.
In August 2020, Taremi signed a four-year contract with Primeira Liga club Porto. He scored his first league goal for Porto on 8 November 2020 in a 3âÂÂ1 home win against Portimonense. There was a foul on Taremi during the 2020 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira in December 2020 which gave Porto a penalty and resulted in their first goal of the match scored by Sérgio Oliveira. Porto went on to win the 42nd edition of the competition 2âÂÂ0, which gave Mehdi Taremi his first European medal. On 17 February 2021, Taremi opened the scoring for Porto against Juventus in the round-of-16 first leg in the UEFA Champions League. He became the first Iranian to score in the first knockout phase of the competition. On 13 April, he scored the game-winning goal with a spectacular bicycle kick in a 1âÂÂ0 away win over Chelsea in the Champions League quarter-finals, yet his club lost 1âÂÂ2 on aggregate. After the final, his goal against Chelsea was voted as the best goal of the season's Champions League. The goal also won the "UEFA.com Goal of the Season" award, and was later nominated for the FIFA Puskás Award. Taremi finished the 2020âÂÂ21 season with 16 goals and 11 assists. He won his first Primeira Liga title in the 2021âÂÂ22 season with Porto. His contributions that season included 20 goals and 13 assists. He was the second-highest goalscorer and the third-highest assist provider that season. On 20 May 2023, he scored all four goals in a 4âÂÂ2 away victory over Famalicão.
Taremi finished the 2022âÂÂ23 season with 22 goals and seven assists in the league, earning the Bola de Prata, the top scorer award, and his second Taça de Portugal title with Porto. He was also named in the Primeira Liga Team of the Year, making it the fourth consecutive time.
On 12 May 2024, he scored a 98th-minute goal in a 2âÂÂ1 victory against Boavista, marking his final appearance for Porto at Estádio do Dragão. Later that month, on 26 May, he scored a penalty in extra time, securing a 2âÂÂ1 victory over Sporting CP in the 2024 Taça de Portugal final.
On 13 July 2024, Taremi signed a three-year contract with Italian champions Inter Milan, valid until 30 June 2027. Taremi thus became the first Iranian player as well as the second Asian player in Inter Milan's history, following Yà «to Nagatomo. On 1 October, he scored his first goal and provided two assists in a 4âÂÂ0 victory over Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League league phase. On 26 January 2025, he netted his first Serie A goal in a 4âÂÂ0 away win over Lecce.
On 6 May 2025, Taremi provided the decisive assist to Davide Frattesi in the 99th minute of extra time, securing Inter Milan's dramatic victory over Barcelona in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final. With this contribution, he became the second Iranian player in history to reach the Champions League final, following legendary striker Ali Daei in 1999.
In July 2025, Botafogo presented a proposal for a two-and-a-half-year contract for Mehdi Taremi, then at Internazionale. Taremi refused the offer in order to negotiate with Premier League clubs.
On 30 August 2025, it was revealed that Taremi would join Olympiacos for a fee of â¬2.5 million. A day later, he was announced by the team.
In his Super League debut against Panserraikos on 13 September, he scored a brace. In his Greek Cup debut against Asteras Tripolis, he also scored a brace.
Taremi played for Iran student's national football team in Turkey tournament and scored 9 goals for the team. He was called up by Alireza Mansourian to participate in the team's training camp in Kish Island in 2013.
Taremi made his debut against Uzbekistan in a friendly match on 11 June 2015. He also came on as a second-half substitute in a World Cup Qualifying match against Turkmenistan on 16 June 2015.
On 3 September 2015, Taremi scored his first senior goals, a brace, in a 6âÂÂ0 victory over Guam in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier. On 23 March 2017, Taremi scored the winning and only goal in Iran's victory against Qatar in the final round of World Cup qualifying. He followed this up with another goal on 28 March 2017, in a 1âÂÂ0 victory against China. On 12 June 2017, Taremi scored the second goal for Iran in a 2âÂÂ0 win over Uzbekistan to seal the country's first consecutive qualification to two World Cups. In June 2018, he was named in Iran's final 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. With the score tied 1âÂÂ1 in stoppage time in Iran's group stage match with Portugal, Taremi missed a point-blank shot wide left that would have eliminated Portugal and advanced Iran to the round of 16.
He was also named in Iran's final 26-man squad by Carlos Queiroz for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. In the first group stage game, he scored two goals as Iran lost 6âÂÂ2 to England.
On March 25, 2025, Taremi scored twice against Uzbekistan in a 2âÂÂ2 draw, a result that secured Iran's qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, marking their seventh appearance in the tournament. Later that year, on 8 September, he made his 100th international appearance in a 1âÂÂ0 defeat against Uzbekistan in the CAFA Nations Cup final.
He was in a relationship with Iranian actress Sahar Ghoreishi for months in 2018. In March 2020, Taremi announced that he had started a new relationship and is preparing for marriage.
On 15 April 2022, Sporting CP, a rival of Taremi's then-club Porto, published an article on their club website and referred to Taremi as "a true snake charmer, someone from Persia always ready to go and perform circus tricks". The article was criticized by Porto fans and Iranians, including the Iranian Ambassador to Portugal, Morteza Damanpak. The club later deleted the article.
Taremi was a supporter of the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran. In June 2017, after President Hassan Rouhani congratulated the national team for qualifying for the 2018 World Cup, Taremi donated his shirt to Rouhani. On 8 December 2017, Taremi tweeted a message that called for the destruction of Israel accompanied by a portrait of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Many Israelis urged FIFA to ban Taremi from the 2018 World Cup for violating FIFA's hate speech policy, with Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Emmanuel Nachshon also condemning the tweet. Taremi subsequently deleted the tweet, although he did not apologize. In 2022, IranWire reported that Taremi had "a close relationship" with President Ebrahim Raisi. However, at the end of the same year, the player publicly criticized the repression of the civil protests prompted by the killing of Mahsa Amini; in the following years, he opposed more and more frequently to the Iranian government's repressive strategies.
On 10 January 2026, Taremi refused to celebrate a goal he scored with Olympiacos during the Greek Super Cup, as a sign of protest towards the mass killing of protesters during the civil unrest in Iran. Later the same month, a fake post shared on Facebook and X claiming that Taremi had requested the club to return to Iran in order to fight in the armed conflict was erroneously reported on by various Italian and international media outlets; the claim was later dismissed both by the striker's agent, Federico Pastorello, and the president of Olympiacos, Kostas Karapapas.
Persepolis
Al-Gharafa
Porto
Inter Milan
Olympiacos
Iran
Individual
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