Listed by the British government in 2008 as an entity of potential concern for WMD-related procurement, and has had export licenses both granted and denied by that government; listed by the Japanese government in 2007 as an entity of concern for proliferation relating to biological and chemical weapons, but has not been relisted subsequently.

Established in 1989 under the supervision of the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology; state-operated research center specializing in advanced molecular biology and biotechnology; provides advanced training and education programs for scientists and students from other universities and academic institutions; maintains research departments in plant biotechnology, medical biotechnology, immunology, animal biotechnology, industrial and environmental biotechnology and basic sciences; industrial and biotechnology laboratories are equipped with electrophoresis, centrifuges, spectrophotometer, ultra filtration, homogenizer, and chromatography columns; since 2005, headed by Abbas Sahebghadam Lotfi, Ph.D.