TEHRAN, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- A rally racing competition for women of Muslim countries will be held this year in the city of Tabriz, northwestern Iran, Tehran Times daily reported on Monday.

Iran has been chosen as the host country for the event, scheduled to be held in September, Mahmoud Seydanlou, the head of Iran's Motorcycle and Automobile Federation, said.

Iran has negotiated with International Automobile Federation-FIA over the program and Tabriz has been selected to host the competition due to its status as the Islamic Tourism Capital in 2018, Seydanlou was quoted as saying.

Seydanlou said Iran will also hold a round of motocross competitions approved by the Asian Automobile Federation.

"Iran and a number of neighboring and Asian countries cannot take part in Formula One and Formula Two car racing, therefore the Asian Automobile Federation has provided the chance that each of these countries, including Iran, Azerbaijan and Turkey, hosts a round of these competitions on the regional level," he added.