US court orders ancient item to be returned to Iran

Tehran, July 24, IRNA – An American supreme court ordered an ancient bas-relief stolen some 80 years ago to be returned to Iran 'A New York Supreme Court judge on Monday ordered a Persian bas-relief dating to approximately 500 BC to be returned to Iran, the country from which authorities say it was stolen more than 80 years ago,' the New York Times reported on Monday. The bas-relief depicting a Persian guard had been offered for sale at an art fair in Manhattan that was seized by investigators. 'Investigators say the item was reported stolen from Tehran in 1936, and then was stolen a second time, in 2011, from the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, to which it had been donated decades earlier,' the American daily said. There was no information on the date and the means the bas-relief will be returned to Iran.