TEHRAN: Iranian President Hassan Rowhani yesterday brought home a 2,700-year-old Persian artifact the US administration gave him as “a special gift” to Iranians, media reports said.
“The Americans contacted us on Thursday and said ‘we have a gift for you’,” Rowhani told reporters on arrival at the airport in Tehran, the ILNA news agency reported.
“They gave it back as a special gift to the Iranian nation.”
Rowhani was speaking of a 7th century BC silver drinking cup in the shape of a winged Griffin, a legendary creature with the head of an eagle and body of a lion. It is reported to be worth more than $1m.
After being looted from a cave in Iran, the cup was seized by US custom officials in 2003 when an arts dealer attempted to smuggle it into the country, according to a State Department tweet.
Mohammad Ali Najafi, head of Iran’s heritage organisation who accompanied Rowhani to New York, welcomed the news.
“We hope this will mark the beginning of the return of other artifacts,” he was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.
AFP
