TEHRAN, July 11 (Xinhua) -- Iranian researchers have successfully cloned a calf, which is the first in Iran as well as in the Middle East, Iran's English-language satellite channel Press TV reported Saturday.

    The cloned calf named "Bonyana," which means foundation and principle, was successfully born through a cesarean section at Royan Institute in central Iranian city of Isfahan after 270 days of pregnancy, Press TV reported.

    Iran's ISNA news agency said the cloned calf was born on Saturday afternoon and the Royan Institute was hopeful to announce the birth of the second cloned calf in a few days.

    According to Press TV, the cloned calf, which is the result of a considerable number of in-vitro fertilizations (IVF) in more than 100 recipient cows, is in good health.

    Royan Institute researchers hoped to clone certain species at high risk of extinction in the near future, Press TV said.

    In April, Iran's first cloned goat, named Hanna and also known as R-CAP-C1, was born at the Isfahan campus of the Royan Institute. The cloned goat was developed in a surrogate uterus of a black Bakhtiari goat for 147 days and was born through a cesarean section.

    At that time, the Royan Institute said in a statement that the ultimate goal of Iran's cloning researches was to achieve the technology of producing recombinant drugs.

    In 2006, Iran became the first country in the Middle East to announce it had cloned a sheep. The cloned sheep, named Royana, was still alive and healthy, the institute said in April.