Iran repatriates cultural heritage items from UK
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Iran and the United Kingdom held talks that culminated in the latter giving in to Tehran's demands regarding ancient treasures.
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Iran is getting looted treasures back from the United Kingdom
Iran, through a lengthy judicial process, managed to repatriate several cultural items from the United Kingdom, Iranian Deputy Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts Ali Darabi said Wednesday decades after the British looted the items.
"We have three ... open court cases. We recently managed to return several very rare items through a court in London," Darabi said, as quoted by Iranian news agency ISNA.
The ministry is also currently in the process of returning cuneiform clay tablets from the Achaemenid era from the University of Chicago.
The cultural items are likely to have been stolen during the British invasion of Iran in the mid-20th century, which saw London, just like the colonial power it is, ravaging Iranian treasures at it had in its various other colonies all over the world.
A significant part of the process for the return of the items had been completed up until the riots started in Iran, which affected Tehran's ties in the international arena and culminated in the suspension of the talks.
Some items from the University of Chicago were packed for transportation to Iran, though they were not sent, as their return depends on the Islamic Republic's relations with the United States, Darabi said as ties have been degrading between Washington and Tehran as of late.
Recently, the Security Council of the Iranian Interior Ministry announced that the riot toll to date since September is around 200 deaths with over $200 million in private and public property damage.
In late October, the Iranian Intelligence Ministry and the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps' intelligence wing revealed that intelligence obtained by Tehran indicates that the CIA and allied intelligence services planned a conspiracy in Iran against the Islamic Republic.
On his part, Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi revealed in mid-November that the leaders of the recent riots in Iran received training in seven countries.
It is noteworthy that Iranian leader Sayyed Ali Khamenei and other high-ranking Iranian officials have considered that the recent riots that the country has witnessed are incited by Western countries who are angered at Iran's progress despite the unprecedented sanctions.
