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.
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
