Iran displays ancient Persian artifacts returned from the US

Published 9:53 am Wednesday, February 8, 2017

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran is displaying hundreds of ancient and Persian artifacts, some dating back as far as 3,500 years and all of them recently brought back home from museums and collections in Western countries.

Mohammad Hassan Talebian, deputy head of the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization of Iran, told The Associated Press that all of the items on display were repatriated over the past two and a half years from England, Belgium, Italy and the United States.

He credits the improved relations between Tehran and the West in the wake of the landmark 2015 nuclear deal for helping make the process possible.

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“The atmosphere after the nuclear deal was very important,” Talebian said. “It made it easy to bring back all these objects home.”