Stem_cell_laws_and_policy_in_Iran
Iran's flexible approach towards stem-cell research is linked to the Shia tradition being flexible enough to allow for ESCs science; the second is that the approval of ESCs research was made easier by permissive laws governing other areas of biomedicine, such as new assisted reproductive technologies; and the third is that Iran's lack of a public discussion of bioscience affects how its ESCs research policy is seen.[1]
In 2002 a fatwa was issued by the Supreme Leader of Iran regarding the permissibility of "destruction of residual embryos from the in vitro fertilization cycle for the purpose of obtaining stem cells for research purposes" as accreditation for the country's ESCs scientific community. Following this positive fatwa, the stem cell department of the Royan Institute in Tehran was established in the same year to establish the ESCs lines and to develop techniques to differentiate these lineages into various mature cell types including cardiomyocytes, B cells, and neurons.[2]