Free Republic

The United States returned to Iran a 2,700-year-old silver drinking cup, looted from a cave in Iran and seized by US Customs officials a decade ago, NBC news reported. The cup is valued at a million dollars at least. … The cup, cast in the shape of a winged griffin, has been stored in a New York warehouse, since authorities seized it from an art dealer who was arrested trying to sell it. For years, US officials have been saying they couldn’t return it to Iran until diplomatic ties with Tehran were normalized. …

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Saturday brought home a 2,700-year-old Persian artifact the US administration gave him as "a special gift" to Iranians, media reports said. "The Americans contacted us on Thursday and said 'we have a gift for you'," Rouhani told reporters upon arrival at the airport in Tehran, the ILNA news agency reported. "They gave it back as a special gift to the Iranian nation." Rouhani was speaking of a 7th century BC silver Persian drinking cup in the shape of a winged Griffin, a legendary creature with the head of an eagle and body of a lion....