more:
Here’s one more sign of a thaw in U.S.-Iranian relations: A 2,700-year-old silver drinking cup, looted from a cave in Iran and seized by U.S. Customs officials a decade ago, was returned to Iran this week. Its value is estimated at a million dollars or more.
The ceremonial drinking vessel from the 7th century B.C., cast in the shape of a winged griffin, has been sitting in a warehouse in New York for years. And for years, U.S. officials have been saying they couldn’t return it to Iran until relations between Washington and Tehran were normalized. “This piece can’t go back,” the New York Post quoted James McAndrew, senior special agent in charge of cultural property for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as saying in 2010.
On Wednesday, the piece went back.
“It is considered the premier griffin of antiquity, a gift of the Iranian people to the world, and the United States is pleased to return it to the people of Iran,” the U.S. State Department said.
http://www.nbcnews.com/science/archaeo-diplomacy-us-gives-million-dollar-cup-back-iran-8C11281668
Thanks for that info and link.