British Court Reinstates Iranian Case Against Antiquities Dealer

LONDON—On Friday the British Court of Appeal, overruling a lower court, reinstated a suit by Iran to force international art dealer Fayez Barakat to return 18 ancient artifacts allegedly stolen from Iranian tombs, the Associated Press reports.

Since 2001, excavations in Iran’s Halil Rud valley have uncovered graves full of carved chlorite jars, bowls, and cups, like the contested objects, but the country claims that many sites were mined illegally.

Barakat, owner of the Barakat Gallery, which has branches in London, Beverly Hills, and Abu Dhabi, claimed he bought the artifacts in continental Europe for about $500,000.

"I'm very disappointed because [the ruling] does not make any sense. I purchased them myself on the open market, in auction houses," he said. "This means that the Iranian government could claim every Persian item at a British Museum.”