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.CAIS ARCHAEOLOGICAL & CULTURAL NEWS OF IRANIAN WORLD© |
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Iran Can Reclaim Her Antiquities From US
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08 April 2006 |
LONDON, (CAIS) -- A US Federal court required museums in the United States in 2004 to return antiquities of other nations under their possession.
The New York Times said on March 29 that based on the same verdict, a silver cup
dating back to 2,500 years has been seized from a collector who had bought it
for $950,000 from smugglers.
The artifact was smuggled to the United States via Syria.
According to the daily, the Institute for Eastern Studies affiliated to Chicago
University is holding a collection of Iranian artifacts belonging to the Persian
Empire.
US archaeologists had stolen these artifacts out of Persepolis (Takht-e Jamshid)
near Shiraz in 1930.
Asked how the US archaeologists were able to take thousands of artifacts out of
Iran, the institute’s director, Gil Stein, denied any illegality by saying
that the Iranian government of the time gave them to US archaeologists as reward
or compensation.
The Institute for Eastern Studies has also announced that it is ready to return
these artifacts to the Iranian government, said the daily.
According to the United States Federal law, antiquities cannot be regarded as
merchandise and are cultural assets of a nation.
The New York Times noted that Iran can reclaim them by taking legal action
against the Institute for Eastern Studies.
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"History is the Light on the Path to Future" |
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Encyclopaedia Iranica
The British Institute of Persian Studies "Persepolis Reconstructed"
The British Museum
The Royal Asiatic Society
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