From stem cell to prison cell: Iranian scientist in US jail

Press TV will air a documentary about Dr. Masoud Soleimani on Tuesday, the first anniversary of the imprisonment of the prominent Iranian stem cell scientist in the United States.

News ID: 447527

Date: 21 October 2019 - 23:26

RNA - Soleimani is among the top 1% of the most highly cited scientists in stem cell research and regenerative medicine, who has cooperated with different universities across the world for years.

Upon arrival in the US on October 23, 2018 on a valid J-1 visa for a six-month sabbatical leave to cooperate with researchers at the request and invitation of Mayo Clinic, one of the top medical centers in the country, he was arrested in Chicago and transferred to a jail in Atlanta, Georgia.

Soleimani is accused of bypassing US sanctions by purchasing vials containing a human growth factor -- a substance readily available on the market and not subject to Washington's embargos.

His defense attorneys say the case has been put on a slow track at the pre-trial stage and they have so far not been able to have him released on bail either.

The 49-year-old professor and biomedical researcher at Tehran's Tarbiat Modares University is reportedly suffering from several health problems which have been aggravated during his incarceration.

847/940