Haghighi was invited to Iran U23 in Asian Games 2006, although he did not play any match. He did not play in 2008 AFC Men's Pre-Olympic Tournament and Sosha Makani was the first choice. Under Gholam Peyrovani's management of Iran U23, He was invited again; but missed many trainings and friendly matches of Iran U23, including Tehran 6-Team Tournament, South Africa Camp, and friendly match against Poland. Peyrovani did not invite Haghighi for 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games stating "he is too old to play in 2012 London Olympics", despite inviting 28 years old Mehdi Rahmati as a Wild Card player. Peyrovani also rejected having any problems with Haghighi.