The Hanover 96 striker took advantage of Kim Sang-sik's defensive error to rescue Iran after Reading's Seol Ki-hyeon given Korea a 1-0 lead at the stroke of half-time.

Before Hashemian's strike, South Korea were looking at a potential five-point lead at the top of the standings. But instead, the group remains wide open with third placed Syria also in the running to qualify for next year's finals in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.

South Korea lead the group with seven points from three matches, with Iran second on five. Syria are third with four points and bottom team Chinese Taipei have yet to earn a point.

The top two teams qualify for the finals.

Both Korea and Iran were able to call upon their top European-based players with Manchester United's Park Ji-sung, Tottenham's Lee Young-pyo and Seol lining up for the Koreans against Hashemian, Hamburg's Mehdi Mahdavikia, Bayern Munich's Ali Karimi and Bolton Wanderers' new signing Andranik Teimourian.

Korea's next match is against Chinese Taipei at home on Wednesday while Iran are away to Syria.