U.S. Repatriates 73 Artifacts to Iran

May 11, 2016
In another sign of a gradual diplomatic thaw, the United States has returned 73 ancient artifacts to Iran. The artifacts are all terracotta sealings dating from 224 to 641 A.D., during the Sasanian Empire, the last great Persian Empire before the advent of Islam.
 
Bullae are small clay or bitumen sealings, and were commonly attached to documents or parcels to show identity of the author or owner of merchandise, and were likely used to seal goods like ceramic vessels or even doors in houses during the period between the third and seventh centuries.  
 
U.S. law enforcement seized the artifacts, which had been illegally imported, in 2005. In March 2016, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations handed the items over to the Iran’s Mission in New York, during Nowruz (Persian New Year). They were then turned over to the National Museum in Tehran.
 
“U.S. experts assessed the artifacts were of Iranian origin and of significant cultural value to Iran,” said an official familiar with the repatriation. “There were no negotiations between the two countries about the items, and it is unclear if Iran was aware that the items were in U.S. possession.” 
 
This is not the first time that the United States has returned items of cultural heritage to Iran. In September 2013, the United States repatriated a silver griffin-shaped cup from the seventh-century B.C. to Iran. It had been seized in 2003 from an art dealer attempting to smuggle it into the United States. The State Department said that the return of that item reflected “the strong respect the United States has for the Iranian people.”