The two-time AFC Champions League winners dominated at the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium but appeared headed for defeat when substitute Arash Borhani headed the Iranians ahead against the run of play in the 77th minute.
But Egyptian striker Emad Moteab levelled for the home side with three minutes remaining and Aboucherouane launched a 30-metre screamer past Vahid Talebloo in added time to give the Saudi side all three points.
Roared on by a capacity crowd, Al Ittihad took control of proceedings early on and were presented with their first big opportunity after six minutes when Saleh Al Saqri cut the ball back from the left byline for Moteab who failed to direct his header on goal.
The visitors threatened with Siavash Akbarpour sending a dipping effort just wide of the Al Ittihad goal while skipper Farhad Majidi mis-kicked from close range after the ball had been cut back to him by Khosro Heydari.
But it was the home side who had the majority of the chances in the first half with Aboucherouane, Moteab and Ahmed Hadid all going close to breaking the deadlock.
Al Ittihad took a firmer grip on proceedings in the second half but continued to be wasteful in front of goal with Mohammed Noor the main culprit.
The Al Ittihad skipper shot just wide of the left upright in the 50th minute, sent an ambitious overhead kick straight at goalkeeper Vahid Talebloo five minutes later and fired across the face of goal in the 65th minute.
Those misses appeared costly when Esteghlal went ahead with virtually their first effort of the second half.
Heydari went down the right flank and sent a superb cross into the middle where Borhani was on hand to direct a bullet header past Mabrouk Zaid.
The visitors appeared to be headed for an unlikely win but Al Ittihad’s intense pressure finally paid off when Moteab equalised in the 87th minute.
Noor chipped the ball over from the right of the Esteghlal box and although Osama Al Muwallad completely missed the ball with his attempted overhead kick, Moteab made no mistake, controlling the ball before blasting into the roof of the net.
Al Ittihad continued to press forward and they were rewarded for their endeavour three minutes into stoppage time when Aboucherouane brought the ball down 30 minutes from goal, eluding a challeng from Majidi before firing a superb shot past the despairing dive of Talebloo.