Iran is seeing its most vociferous outcry yet over the use of genetically-modified ingredients in food production. Opponents of food products with GMOs have recently elicited fatwas from top clerics, declaring commercial sale and cultivation of genetically-altered crops “not permitted.”
Local media is at the center of the campaign, with Tasnim news agency published a letter to state officials by a group of university professors, researchers and activists, urging a ban on the trade, growth and imports of GM food.
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Tasnim cited a warning by Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Alavi-Gorgani about health and security risks of genetically-manipulated products. Israel, the senior cleric said, is behind the campaign to promote GM food…
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A variety of GM products, chiefly rice and cooking oil, [are] imported into Iran, however. Iran has also been dabbling with biotechnology for years, cloning its first sheep in 2006.
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The first GM rice is already grown in Iran for human consumption. In May 2015, the first sample of Iran’s GM cotton was unveiled by Minister of Agriculture Mahmoud Hojjati.
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In February, [Ali Karami, a specialist in medical biotechnology and genetic engineering] told Tasnim that imports of genetically modified products were a “Zionist plot” to infect Iranians…
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Read full, original post: Opposition against Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) gains momentum in Iran
