AFC announced on Thursday the seedings for the Asian Cup draw, which takes place on Friday in Doha.
Except for tournament host Qatar, which is automatically placed in the first seed, all other 15 teams have been positioned based on their final ranking at the AFC Asian Cup 2007.
The 2007 Asian Cup champion Iraq, runner-up Saudi Arabia and third-place South Korea are also in the first seed.
Iran is in the second seed along with Japan, Australia and Uzbekistan.
China, the UAE, Bahrain and Jordan have been put in the third seed while Syria, Kuwait, India and North Korea in the fourth seed.
Commenting on the upcoming draw, Iran captain Javad Nekounam said of all the teams Iran could possibly face in the 2011 tournament, North Korea would be his last choice.
“If you ask me about our probable group, I would say Saudi, Iran, Jordan and India. Of course, it could be different but please do not tell me North Korea,” the Osasuna midfielder told the-afc.com.
“They are a very hard team to beat. They were very defensive to the point of being unusual. Even when they were 1-0 down, they closed up. It was unbelievable.”
Iran played twice with North Korea in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, beating Koreans 2-1 at home and drawing 0-0 in Pyongyang. However, Iran finished fourth in Group B and failed to qualify, while North Korea qualified in second place.
Nekounam said Iran was determined to show fans it remained among the Asian football giants despite its absence in the World Cup.
“We failed to qualify for the World Cup and the whole country was disappointed. We have to win something to put Iran's football back on top and Doha is the place to do it.”