Iran in Dispute With British Museum Over Loan of Artifact - ArtsBeat Blog - NYTimes.com

Iran in Dispute With British Museum Over Loan of Artifact - ArtsBeat Blog - NYTimes.com: "Adding to its list of grievances with the West, Iran on Monday said that the British Museum had broken a promise to lend it an artifact from the 6th century B.C., Reuters reported. Hassan Qashqavi, a spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, threatened reduced cooperation from Iran on art-related matters if the British Museum did not meet a two-month deadline to provide a relic called the Cyrus Cylinder, a clay cylinder believed to date to Cyrus of Persia’s conquest of Babylon in 539 B.C. In a news conference, Mr. Qashqavi suggested that the museum was reluctant to hand over the artifact because of the turmoil after Iran’s disputed presidential election in June. “Unfortunately, the British party did not honor its pledge on illogical, illegal and unethical grounds allegedly due to political developments in Iran,” he said, according to Reuters. “What does cultural heritage have to do with our domestic political developments?” A spokeswoman for the British Museum said that it still intends to send the cylinder to Iran."