Esteghlal beat last-place Steel Azin 3-1 on Sunday at the Azadi Stadium and leapfrogged both Sepahan and Traktorsazi to advance to second place on the table.
Esteghlal captain Farhad Majidi struck his shot firmly into the net just five minutes into the match but Fereydoon Zandi cancelled out the goal in the 23rd minute.
Majidi gave a lead to Esteghlal once again in the 35th minute.
Shortly after that Steel Azin put Esteghlal under pressure but their strikers squandered the chances they got.
Seyyed Salehi scored Esteghlal’s third goal in the 73rd minute when he escaped from the offside trap and opened the goal.
Zob Ahan remains on top of the table with 42 points while Esteghlal is now second with 37 points.