Confiscated relics submitted to ICHTO

Persian relics in diplomatic bag

Published on 12 June 2010

Author(s): Press TV/TE and HGH

Type:  News

Argentinian diplomat not the first one to get caught

Over 6 tons of relics were confiscated from Argentine diplomat Sebastian Zavala. The Persian relics confiscated from an Argentinean diplomat last year have been submitted to Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization.

Over 6 tons of handcrafts and relics were found among the possessions of Sebastian Zavala when he attempted to leave Iran in June 2009, after his seven-year service in Tehran.

Ancient earthenware and paintings, age-old manuscripts, a collection of antique guns, and a whole set of ancient coins were only part of the items packed in 318 cardboard boxes.

Indian, Buddhist, Chinese and Armenian manuscripts, Pharaonic Egypt, African and Buddhist figurines and early 1900 handguns and military medals were also among the recovered objects.

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Manuscripts from the diplomatic bag (Press TV)

Zavalla was not the first foreign diplomat who tried to smuggle Persian antiquities out of the country. In March 2009, the third secretary of the South Korean Embassy in Tehran was also caught smuggling a priceless relic dating to the Achaemenid era out of Iran.

Customs officials at Shiraz Airport seized the remnant after they found it in the South Korean diplomat's luggage at check-in. The envoy was later released due to his diplomatic immunity.

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