New York High Court Orders Return of Achaemenid Artifact to Iran

A judge at New York’s Supreme Court ruled on Monday, August 23rd, that a stone relief depicting an Achaemenid soldier be returned to Iran.

According to The New York Times, this stone relief, dating back to approximately 500 BC, was seized in October of last year by Manhattan District Attorney’s office personnel from an art gallery called “Park Amory Avino.” The art gallery had intended to auction the Achaemenid-era artifact for $1.2 million.

According to the report, researchers stated that this Achaemenid artifact was originally illegally removed from Iran in 1936 and then stolen from the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in Canada in 2011.

Reports indicate that the court will not pursue charges against the two buyers of this artifact.

Robert Wes, a well-known antiquities dealer, and his partner Sam Fagg had stated that they legally purchased this ancient artifact from the Montreal Museum’s insurance company. However, after investigation and examination of the historical record revealed that it had been stolen, they agreed to sign court documents regarding this artifact.

Mr. Wes had written in an email at the time of the artifact’s seizure last year that researchers are well familiar with this artwork and aware of its 70-year history.

The U.S. Supreme Court also ruled in March of last year that Americans injured in a 1997 bombing in Jerusalem who claim Iran was involved in the attack cannot seize Achaemenid tablets in the University of Chicago museum to compensate for their $71.5 million in damages.

The Achaemenid tablets comprised more than 30,000 tablets that were sent to the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute in 1935 by government decree via ship and arrived in 1937. According to that agreement, expert examination and study of these tablets were to be completed within three years and then returned to Iran.

After the translation and publication of several of these tablets by American experts, some tablets were returned to Iran in three installments during the years 1948, 1971, and 2004. However, this return process was hindered and halted due to a legal matter related to a terrorist attack in Jerusalem and Iran being deemed responsible for the incident.

Source: Radio Farda