Stolen Capital Returned to Persepolis - CAIS Archaeological & Cultural News of Iranian World©

LONDON, (Shapour Suren-Pahlav - CAIS) -- A column' capital stolen from Persepolis has recently been returned to the ancient seat of the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian service of CHN reported Tuesday.

The police seized the capital from armed smugglers in Kerman a few days before Iranian New Year (March 21, 2006).

The capital was kept at the Harandi Garden Museum in Kerman after it was seized, Kerman Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department (KCHTD) official Hossein Rashidzadeh said.

The smugglers had planned to transfer the capital to a foreign country, he added.

The KCHTD has filled a lawsuit against the smugglers in a Shiraz court, and they will soon be put on trial.

Neither, the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization, officials responsible for the protection of Persepolis site or any of the Islamic Regime's News Agencies had not previously announced the robbery, nor they offered any explanation as how, such a colossal capital has been removed from Persepolis complex without official's knowledge.

Since 1979 Islamic revolution, smugglers with the assistance of ruling clerics have repeatedly stolen parts of the palace of Persepolis and have sold them to several private collection owners outside the country. Iran’s Cultural Heritage Police Department wit ht he support of public is trying hard to save the remaining of this magnificent palace, which was once the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid dynasty, from being plundered any further.

This was the first report about the case.

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