Seyyedeh Elham Hosseini won a sweep of golds in the women’s 81 kilograms with a career-best effort that was by some distance the most significant achievement by any of the 21 women who have ever competed for Iran at international level.

After the launch of Iranian women’s weightlifting four years ago in Ahvaz, when the country’s Islamic rulers allowed women to lift on the platform for the first time alongside the men’s Fajr Cup competition, progress has not always been smooth.

Men’s and women’s teams are kept apart, salaries promised to the women have not always been paid, and two of the team fled to Germany earlier this year.

There is now a new leadership regime in the Iranian Weightlifting Federation (IRIWF) and its Interim President Sajjad Anoushiravani said the National Olympic Committee is giving good support for the women’s programme.

After congratulating Hosseini on her landmark result he said: "We will be going for an Olympic medal now in Paris.

"This was a strong competition today and Seyyedeh did very well.

"We have a good plan for women’s weightlifting and it’s very important for us to take part in the Olympic Games for the first time, and to win a medal.

"We have 20 women in training camp and the IRIWF believes in continuous training."

Anoushiravani is hoping to become permanent President of the federation within three months.

He was a super-heavyweight silver medallist at the London 2012 Olympic Games, finishing behind his team-mate Behdad Salimi, who recently became IRIWF vice-president.

Both men were there to see Hosseini win, as was the nation’s double Olympic champion Hossein Rezazadeh, who won the super-heavyweights in 2000 and 2004.

Hosseini made five of her six attempts, failing only with the final one when she had already secured victory.

The 24-year-old made a career-best 102kg in the snatch, equalled her best clean and jerk on 125kg and totalled 223kg, up four kilograms on her previous best when she was sixth at last year’s International Weightlifting Federation World Championships.

Hosseini had finished fifth and sixth in her previous two attempts in the Asian Championships, and Iran had never won a senior continental medal of any colour until today.

Japan took the silver through 20-year-old Motoka Nakajima, who made 100-123-223, and the bronze went to Aisha Omarova from Kazakhstan on 93-124-217.

In the other medal event of the day the 87kg world champion Ankha Munkhjantsan from Mongolia was a clear winner on 249kg despite missing three of her attempts.

Munkhjantsan, who came within one lift of becoming Mongolia’s first Olympic weightlifting medallist in Tokyo last year, made 114-135-249.

The 24-year-old gave birth to a son, Berkhshagai, a few weeks before qualifying for Tokyo began and took a continental silver medal only six months later.

"Training was very difficult after I had a baby but I worked hard," said Munkhjantsan, who has been lifting weights since she was ten and who had a word of thanks for Mohamed Jalood, the IWF President, who supported her in her youth and junior days.

"We are all strong - three of us are mummies."

Remarkably, only one of Mongolia’s four women competing in Bahrain is not a mother.

Two of the others had won lesser medals but none of the team had won until today, when Munkhjantsan just failed with a final attempt at 145kg that would have given her a career best total.

Silver went to Lo Ying-Yuan from Taiwan on 110-133-243, and bronze to Tursunoy Jabborova of Uzbekistan on 112-130-242.