Iran Files Lawsuits to Reclaim Stolen Artifacts from Pakistan

01 June 2005

The Iranian Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization (ICHTO) is legally and diplomatically trying to return Iranian jewelry smuggled to Pakistan which experts assess as invaluable as those kept today in Golestan Palace, Tehran.

Two cases are now taken to Pakistan courts involving the return of a jewelry collection similar to other Imperial  Iranian ones and a mummy and its cask.

During the last 21 years, Iran has had three legal cases in Pakistan courts to return its cultural-historical heritage back home. One of the cases has been resolved and the items have been returned to the country. No final verdict has been reached for the other two cases and today the Iranian government is attempting once more to resolve the cases legally and diplomatically.

The successful case involved 34 antiquities and was closed in 1984 resulting in the handing of the pieces to the legal department of the ICHTO.

One of the other cases which is underway in a Lahore court involves some jewelry smuggled to Pakistan by an Iranian. The Pakistan customs did not identify the objects as historically or culturally valuable, but the Iranian government handed in a complaint demanding for a further analysis of the collection by Iranian experts.