Historic artefacts collection returned to Iran

The biggest ever collection of historic Iranian artefacts has been finally restituted to Iran from Belgium.

The plane carrying the precious collection took off from Brussels at 2 p.m. and arrived in Iran's capital Tehran Thursday evening, Press TV reported.

Iranian authorities moved the collection from the Museum of Brussels University to Iran's embassy after a court gave a verdict approving Iran's right for restitution of the collection to Tehran.

On Dec 22, the appellate court in Liege, a city in Belgium, passed the final verdict in favour of the restitution of the Iranian heritage.

Massoud Soltanifar, head of Iran's culture, heritage, handicrafts and tourism department, said the collection would be transferred to Iran's national museum. He added that two other legal cases are being pursued in the US and in Europe for restitution of historic artefacts to Iran.

The historic collection from Belgium contains nine boxes of precious ancient artefacts and a bronze pin stolen from an exhibition.

Yolande Wolfcarius-Maleki, a French national who acquired Iranian nationality by marriage in 1965, illegally moved the collection to Belgium over the years.

The antiquities were reportedly excavated from a 3,000-year-old ancient site near the village of Khorvin, 80 km northeast of Tehran.