The International Olympic Committee on Wednesday (February 4, 2026) elected its first female member from Iran, who also becomes the youngest current representative. Soraya Aghaei is now the 107th member of the IOC by a 95–2 vote and is the third Iranian representative and the first since 2004. The IOC invites potential members to join an exclusive body that includes former Olympic athletes, leaders of international sports bodies, members of royal families, former political leaders, diplomats, industrialists and an Oscar-winning actress.

Aghai joins the global Olympic body as it is led by Kirsty Coventry, the first female president in its 132-year history. Now the share of women in IOC membership is 45%. The will includes voting to choose the host for the 2036 Summer Games during Aghai’s eight-year term.

The 30-year-old member of the Iranian Olympic body’s Athletes Commission became the youngest IOC member at the same meeting, with Afghanistan’s 31-year-old Samira Asghari re-elected for her second term. Aghaei competed as Iran’s first female Olympian in badminton at the Tokyo Summer Games held in 2021. The last Iranian badminton player to compete at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 was Kaveh Mehrabi, who is now the director of the IOC Athletes Department.