Info:
Stemcell Technology Research Center (STRC), officially began its activities in 2004 as the first Iranian private research center in the field of tissue engineering and nanotechnology. The STRC’c long-term goals are to achieve functional and practical products for repairing and regenerating damaged tissues;
The Stem Cell Technology Research Center (STRC) is actually a front for Iran’s military and IRGC. It’s owned and run by officials from Iran’s military industries, and is probably involved in covert procurement of equipment and expertise for Iran’s defence sector;
STRC is part of the SPND (سپند) organization – a military-run hub for remnants and holdouts from Iran’s pre-2003 nuclear weapons program, and also a home to scientists who like playing on the boundaries of research into biological and chemical weapons;
STRC’s founder, Dr Masoud Soleimani (دکتر مسعود سلیمانی, national ID 1287947786). Soleimani, an academic from Tarbiat Modares University, is perhaps Iran’s premier stem cell researcher. He’s authored over 550 articles and 12 books on the subject. By all accounts, he’s a very bright man. Soleimani spent time in an Atlanta prison accused of attempting to arrange the export of human growth hormone from America to Iran without the required licences;
STRC’s CEO, Dr Ahmad Karimi Rahjerdi. Google searches of Dr Karimi’s few English-language scientific publications would bear that out. Dr Karimi has published research on novel toxins with authors from the IRGC-affiliated Baghiyatallah University of Medical Sciences (دانشگاه علوم پزشکی بقیه الله). Look up Dr Karimi’s name in Farsi though (احمد کریمی راهجردی, national ID 0051332574), and you’ll realize that he’s a long-time member of Iran’s military and IRGC.
Indeed, STRC’s board is packed to the brim with IRGC and military types. There’s also Dr Ali Gharibian (دكتر علي غريبيان, national ID 0051332574). Gharibian works at MODAFL’s Centre for Technology Incubators (مرکز رشد واحدهای فناور), of which you might rightly guess that STRC is actually one. Gharibian is also an old buddy of SPND old-timer and Amad Man Akbar Motallebizadeh (اکبر مطلبی زاده, national ID 4430516261), and we hear that the two were even business partners in a company called Vista Vision Raman (شرکت ویستا ویژن رامان, national ID 14003535924) for a while.
Late last year, a new member was appointed to the STRC board: Mahdi Masoumian (aka Mehdi Masoumian or مهدی معصومیان, national ID 0491942168). He was outed as a senior official of the SPND organization, and also as head of an SPND front company named Kimiya Pakhsh Shargh (کیمیا پخش شرق, national ID 10102179854), which was involved in procuring equipment with nuclear weapon-relevant utility ever since the AMAD pre-2003 nuclear weapons program. Masoumian wouldn’t know a stem cell from Soft Cell, but he probably knows a thing or two about covert procurement. So his appointment only serves to flag STRC as even dodgier than it already looked.
Partners:
Iran University of Medical Sciences
Vice-Presidency for Science and Technology
“Bon-yakhteh” comprehensive stem cell biology and regenerative medicine center
Vice -Presidency for Science and Technology
Council for Development of Stem Cell Sciences and Technologies: Biotechnology Development Headquarters
Involved In:
Nuclear Weapon Program
Missile Weapon Program
Also Known As:
Stem Cell Technology Company
Bon Biotech Stem Cell Technology Company
BonBiotech
Country:
Iran
Address:
Building No. 9, 2nd east alley, Ostad Mohammad-Ali Keshavarz Blv., Saadat Abad, Tehran, Iran
Phone:
+982122082120
Website:
www.en.strc.ac.ir
www.bonbiotech.ir
www.www.stemcellstech.com
www.www.strc.ac.ir
E-mail:
scbd@strc.ac.ir
Reason for the color:
» The Stem Cell Technology Research Center is actually a front for Iran’s military and IRGC;