Mardani recently underwent a successful surgery to fix a torn meniscus in his right knee, according to Tehran Times.

As he is recovering, the 34-year-old will miss the World Taekwondo Grand Slam in Wuxi and the 2023 World Taekwondo Championships in Baku - both crucial qualifying events for Paris 2024.

Mardani won bronze at the 2022 World Championships held in Guadalajara.

The Iranian also has a gold medal from the 2021 Asian Championships in Beirut.

Iran are among the top 10 nations in taekwondo at the Olympic Games so far.

The country has won 6 medals - two gold, one silver and three bronze - overall.

Hadi Saei claimed three of those, including two gold medals at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 and a bronze medal from Sydney 2000.

Yousef Karami also has a bronze from Athens 2004.

Mohammad Bagheri Motamed won silver for the country at London 2012, with Kimia Alizadeh winning a bronze at Rio 2016.

The taekwondo tournament at Paris 2024 is scheduled to be held from August 7 to 10.

Taekwondo made its Olympic debut as a demonstration sport at Seoul 1988.

It was once again introduced as a demonstration event in Barcelona 1992.

It appeared as a full medal sport since Sydney 2000 and has appeared in every edition since then.