Hadi Mirzaei, director general of the General Office of Museums, raised concerns in separate letters addressed to Amir-Hossein Ghareebnejad, vice president for Cultural Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Ali-Akbar Mottakan, secretary-general of the National Commission for UNESCO-Iran.
“According to reports, the British Museum plans to transfer the Cyrus Cylinder, currently on display in the United States, to the national library of the occupying regime in al-Quds from October 4 to November 28, 2024,” the letter read.
“The transfer of this historical artifact, which holds global significance, will undoubtedly be inappropriate due to potential risks associated with it,” it added.
Mirzaei also highlighted Iran's intellectual property rights over the Cyrus Cylinder and demanded a ban on its transfer, as well as legal actions based on the 1945 Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property.
The Cyrus Cylinder, a relic from the Achaemenid dynasty, is considered the earliest and most ancient declaration of human rights, constituting a part of the identity and civilization of Iranians.
Many of the fundamental principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948 and serving as a basis for subsequent human rights agreements, were derived from the Cyrus Cylinder.
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